Page 8 - FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE; EXPLORING GOD’S UNIVERSE

Science Y6 – Forces and motion – lesson 2

EXPERIMENTS ON MAGNETS

Experiment 1

Aim: To measure the thickness of card through which a paper clip can be picked up by a magnet.

Apparatus: Paper clip, magnet, pieces of card of different thickness.

Method: Design a fair test to see how strong your magnet is in attracting a paper clip through card of
varying thickness.
Results:
Thickness of card in mm Will attract paper clip – yes or no

Experiment 2

Aim: To observe the magnetic fields of different magnets.

Apparatus: Magnets, iron filings, card, four small bricks

Method: Lightly dust the card with iron filings. Place the card on the four bricks over the magnet.
Observe the pattern. Is it weaker or stronger near the poles? Try other magnets.

Result: _____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Experiment 3

Aim: To measure the magnetic fields of different magnets.

Apparatus: Magnets, paper clips, ruler

Method: Lay a magnet on a table then put a paper clip a measured distance away from it. How close
does the magnet have to be before it attracts the paper clip? The strength of the magnet is
related to the area over which it exerts its power to attract the clip. Stronger magnets have
larger areas of magnetic field.

Result: _____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

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