Blog 11: "MagSafe," or US Patent No. 7311526

Prior to the January 10, 2006 introduction of the MagSafe connector by Apple, Inc., laptop users worldwide were faced with the potential horror of this:

This gory carnage brought to you by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagSafe

A terrible disaster awaited every avid Macbook user: if the power connector was pulled out at any disagreeable angle, the entire male-female connection would be ruined. And God help you if you happened to trip on that forsaken wire.

The MagSafe revolutionized laptop recharger connection port safety with the brilliant innovation of a magnetic connection between port and connector. But how would such an invention work? 

Before I answer the question, a few action shots.

Always practice safe charging.

A fool's postulation would insinuate that the connector is charged with a 'north' magnetic charge - and the port 'south,' or vice versa - thus creating a magnetic attraction between the two. This could not possibly be true, for a magnetic monopole is a hypothetical creation still ten million years away from the MagSafe's construction.

Therefore, the only plausible construction of the MagSafe would be for either the port or the connector to be magnetically charged, and the other made of an uncharged yet ferromagnetic material. And by 'ferromagnetic material,' I mean a material that contains atoms with elections that have unpaired spins that create domains that align when in the presence of a stronger magnet. 

But which one is the magnet, and which is merely the ferromagnetic material? Well...

A few paper clips enhance my understanding.

This makes sense, because if the connector was a magnet, it could pick up many bits of ferromagnetic material and create the potential for a short circuit. But short circuits are from another chapter.