Electromagnet

After you’ve completed the galvanometer experiment, try this one!

You can wrap wire around an iron core (like a nail), which will intensify the effect and magnetize the nail enough for you to pick up paperclips when it’s hooked up. See how many you can lift!

You can wrap the wire around your nail using a drill or by hand. In the picture to the left, there are two things wrong: you need way more wire than they have wrapped around that nail, and it does not need to be neat and tidy. So grab your spool and wrap as much as you can – the more turns you have around the nail, the stronger the magnet.

(We included this picture because there are so many like this in text books, and it’s quite misleading! This image is supposed to represent the thing you’re going to build, not be an actual photo of the finished product.)

Find these materials:

• Batteries in a battery holder with alligator clip wires
• A nail that can be picked up by a magnet
• At least 3 feet of insulated wire (magnet wire works best but others will work okay)
• Paper Clips
• Masking Tape
• Compass

Please login or register to read the rest of this content.