Can Lenz's Law Allow a Simple Block of Metal to Divert a Charged Electron Beam?

I was curious about an odd effect I first saw in video here: YouTube : Copper's Surprising Reaction to Strong Magnets

In the video, a big heavy magnet is brought to an abrupt halt by a simple piece of copper. The effect is called Lenz's Law : an increase in the magnetic flux is created by the approaching magnet. The metal naturally resists the increasing magnetic flux by producing an almost equal and opposite magnetic field. The net effect is that the incoming magnet/projectile is halted before it can do harm.

Can Lenz's Law be applied to deflect or shield from beams of charged particles? From a world building perspective, could a primitive people fend off high-tech invaders armed with charged particle weapons by using metal to deflect the beam?

posted over 5 years ago

James McLellan‭

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