Lazy Tube Kit STEM Lab
Product Code : SCL-IMIC-12562
Quick Answer: The Lazy Tube Kit pairs a 400 mm copper tube with a clear acrylic tube of the same length to show eddy current braking. A neodymium magnet drifts slowly down the copper tube, while a matched steel slug falls straight through.
Last updated: October 2026
Key Features
- Seamless polished copper tube and clear acrylic control tube, 400 mm long
- Nickel-plated N52 neodymium cylinder magnet
- Stainless steel control slug matched to the magnet’s size and weight
- Non-magnetic weighted base with collars to hold both tubes vertical
- Mounting tabs for photogates and data loggers
- Instructional lab manual
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Conductive tube | Seamless copper, polished, 400 mm |
| Control tube | Clear acrylic, 400 mm |
| Magnet | N52 neodymium cylinder, nickel-plated |
| Control slug | Stainless steel, matched to magnet |
| Base | Weighted, non-magnetic, with alignment collars |
| Package | Copper tube, acrylic tube, stand, magnet, control slug, lab manual |
About This Product
Dropping the slug and then the magnet through the acrylic tube shows both falling freely. Through the copper tube the slug still drops at once, but the magnet slows to a steady crawl: its moving field induces eddy currents in the copper whose own field opposes the motion, as Lenz’s law predicts. The demonstration leads into Faraday’s law, terminal velocity and magnetic braking in maglev and industrial systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the magnet fall slowly in the copper tube?
The falling magnet changes the magnetic flux in the copper walls, inducing eddy currents. By Lenz’s law their magnetic field opposes the magnet’s motion, so it falls at a slow, steady speed.
What is the acrylic tube for?
It is a control: the magnet falls freely through it, showing that the slowing in the copper tube is caused by induction, not friction.
Related: Induction, Mutual Inductance Coils and Eddy Current Model (Disc) STEM Lab.
For a quotation on the Lazy Tube Kit STEM Lab, contact Educational Instrument.
