Magnetofluidic accelerometer with capacitive sensing of inertial body position

An accelerometer includes an inertial body; a magnetized fluid holding the inertial body in suspension; and a plurality of capacitive elements, each forming a capacitor with the inertial body. A displacement of the inertial body produces a change of capacitance of the capacitive elements that is indicative of acceleration. The capacitive elements include at least two capacitive elements per side of the accelerometer. A housing encloses the inertial body and the magnetized fluid, and the plurality of capacitive elements are mounted on the housing. The housing can be cylindrical shaped, rectangular shaped and tetrahedral-shaped. The inertial body can include a disk-shaped magnet, an annular-shaped magnet, or be non-magnetic, or be weakly magnetic. The acceleration can be linear acceleration, angular acceleration, or three components of angular acceleration and three components of linear acceleration. A plurality of magnets magnetize the magnetic fluid.