---
title: Magnetix
date: "2012-10-02T09:22:42Z"
categories:
  - interesting-experiences
wp_id: 2810
description: I discovered that Magnetix magnets can form a chain that doesn't break under its own weight. I explored the theoretical cost and materials required to build a chain spanning one light-year.
keywords: [magnetix, magnets, physics, structural integrity, light-year, scale]
---

I wasn’t entirely sure, but now I’m somewhat convinced: [Magnetix](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetix) magnets can form an infinite chain that won’t break due by its own weight.

[![photo 1](/blog/assets/photo-1.webp "photo 1")](/blog/assets/photo-1.webp) [![photo 2](/blog/assets/photo-2.webp "photo 2")](/blog/assets/photo-2.webp)

(This is not true, however, if you introduce the steel bearing balls between them. That structure collapses pretty quickly if you pull it up like a chain.)

So, this would be a really nice question for [What If](http://what-if.xkcd.com/), IMHO. What if you made a 1 light-year chain of Magnetix? Well, to begin with, we’d need nearly [40 million trillion pieces](https://www.google.co.in/search?q=1+light+year+in+inches). That’d cost at least 10 million trillion dollars based on the [current prices at Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=magnetix), and would be about 140,000 times the [world’s GDP](http://www.google.co.in/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=world+gdp). I’m sure [Randall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Munroe) could take this a lot further.

---

## Comments

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- **Kamaal** _2 Oct 2012 10:46 am_:
  Very interesting discovery and idea.
  Now what I would be interested in knowing is the implications of using it in further research on space elevators(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space\_elevator).
  Space elevators would be awesome. Needless to say the material used to design space elevators needs to be strong and load sustaining. The biggest hurdle to that goal is the weight of the elevator rope itself.
- **[Shalini](http://www.learnsasonline.in)** _11 Oct 2012 10:56 am_:
  This blog gives very useful information about analytics, data science and such stuff. I am a big fan.

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