Magnetic floors

A magnetic floor is a strip that brakes any ball rolling over it. A slow ball stops on it, a fast one gets through with less speed. Knowing how much speed it takes to cross a magnet is the key to these stages.

How magnets behave

As long as the ball touches the magnet, its speed drops by 18 metres per second every second. That's a brake almost twice as strong as Earth's gravity. Because the deceleration is constant, the minimum speed needed to cross a magnet of a given length is a simple calculation:

A full-power shot leaves at 13.5 metres per second, so even at full power a rolling ball could only cross about 5 metres of magnet, and floor friction and speed lost along the way shorten that further. Magnets appear as a thin strip on the floor, with the magnet pieces drawn underneath it.

Magnetic floors are introduced in the second half of Level 2 and become more frequent in later Levels.

Ways across

• Don't touch it: the most reliable option is to send the ball over the magnet through the air. A short ramp or tilted spring just before it is enough.
• Cross at speed: if the magnet is short, put a Booster in front of it to get the ball above the speed in the table.
• Bounce across: if the ball only touches the magnet briefly while hopping, contact time is short and little speed is lost. Skipping the ball over the magnet with a tilted spring is another option.

Using a magnet as a brake

A magnet isn't always the enemy. If there's one right before a spot where the ball needs to slow down, such as the mouth of a pipe, you can use it to bring a fast ball down to the speed the pipe needs.

More in this section

• SpikesTouch them and the ball pops and the stage restarts. Your margin is a few centimetres.
• PitsA ball that falls in is lost. Jump it, or cross it at speed.
• PipesTakes a slow ball from the floor and drops it from the ceiling. Speed is everything.
• GatesSlides up and down in front of the hole. When you shoot matters as much as what you draw.
• Wall behind the ballThe target is behind you. Send the ball forward, then bring it back.
• TrianglesTheir slope carries the ball upward. Used well, a free ramp.
• No-draw zonesYou can't draw in the hatched area. The solution has to live outside it.
• Rubber blocksBounces the ball without losing speed. Think of it as a spring you can't move.
• Sticky floorsThe ball sticks and the shot ends. Your drawings stay, though.
• PistonsExtends from the floor or ceiling and pulls back. You get past by choosing your moment.
• Ceiling targetThe hole is in the ceiling, not the wall. You have to send the ball up through it.
• Black holesPulls in a passing ball and swallows one that gets too close. A slingshot at the right distance.