Levitation experiments

Bismuth has the highest diamagnetic coefficient of any metal. This means that it will expel a magnetic field from its interior and so one can arrange a setup (see steam-punk rig below) in which one can levitate a rare-earth magnet --- without supplying any external energy or cooling. Basically, one creates a small stable region between two bismuth plates in which a magnetic field pulling up on a small test magnet just balances the gravitational force pulling down on that same magnet.