<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1170" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>Bob:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Isn't this like the man who wouldn't set his suitcase down because the elevator already had a lot of weight on it?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>dave<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********<BR><BR>On 6/21/2003 at 11:54 PM BobDavis88@aol.com wrote:</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid"><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">Imagine holding a 10-lb. sack of sugar. You feel it as ten pounds. Now attach a powerful magnet to the bottom of the sack, and a powerful repelling magnet in your hand. The magnets might not touch, but is the sugar lighter? No. It might even float a few inches in the air, but you still feel ten pounds of weight in your hand, the same as if it were sitting on top of a coil spring which you were holding.<BR><BR>This is because the magnets are part of the lever system. In order to actually remove weight from the system, they have to be external to it. This is true as well of springs. Wippen assist springs are external to the system. Their  force acts against the support flange, and in turn upon the [theoretically rigid] wippen mount rail. In order for a pair of magnets to store potential energy in the deformation of the magnetic field, one of them must be mounted outside the moving part of the system; i. e., on the action frame.<BR><BR>I think Richard should re-do his measurements.<BR><BR>Bob D</FONT><FONT size=2 Arial></BLOCKQUOTE>**************** END MESSAGE FROM BobDavis88@aol.com *********************</FONT> </FONT></BODY></HTML> <PRE> _____________________________ David M. Porritt dporritt@mail.smu.edu Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 _____________________________</PRE>