• Question: If someone swallowed a magnet, would they be able to be picked up using another magnet?

    Asked by tombo to Meeks, Pete, Stephen, Steve, Tom on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Tom Hartley

      Tom Hartley answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Actually it can be pretty dangerous to swallow a magnet (magnets inside you can stick together through the membranes of your gut which can cause serious problems). I think I read this on a packet of neodymium magnets we have at home. Lots of fun to play with but alarmingly strong – you can also crush your fingers.

      I think if you had something ferromagnetic inside you, big enough to support your own weight, it would probably cause a serious injury if you tried to pick it up using a strong magnet.

      We have to worry about this sort of thing at work as the MRI scanner has an incredibly strong magnet inside it. It can be very dangerous to bring any metal into the room, and people with metallic implants cannot be scanned (there are some exceptions for health reasons – if a doctor recommends it). We are very, very careful about this.

    • Photo: Stephen Curry

      Stephen Curry answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Ha, ha – good one! In principle, if the magnet they swallowed was strong enough, you could do it.

      Care to volunteer? 😉

    • Photo: Steve Roser

      Steve Roser answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      Cool question, and really scarey! I guess you could – in the end it might depend on several factors including how strong the magnets were – you can get really strong really small rare earth ones these days, so thats ok you might be able to swallow one of those, and also whether your guts are tough enough to lift you up. Nasty.

    • Photo: Marieke Navin

      Marieke Navin answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      What a great question – I think (without doing an experiment) that a normal magnet that you use in school wouldn’t be strong enough to work through your stomach wall. However you can buy really strong neodynium magnets – you really wouldn’t want to swallow one of these though! I bought some once for an experiment. It was really dangerous walking with them as if you went past something metallic they would ping over there with a massive force – if your fingers got in the way it would be bad! They might still work through your stomach, but I certainly do not want to test this out!

    • Photo: Pete Edwards

      Pete Edwards answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      I think that if you did (and I wouldn’t recommend you tried 😉 ) then the magnet you swallowed would be pulled out of your body before you lifted off the ground – nice!

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