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Unit 11: Magnetism Page 26
best but others will work 6. See if your electromagnet can
okay) pick up paper clips.
· Paper Clips
· Masking Tape 7. Switch the wires from one
· Compass terminal of the battery to the
other. Electricity is now moving in
1. Take your wire and remove the opposite direction from the
about an inch of insulation from direction it was moving in before.
both ends. (Use sandpaper if Try the compass again. Do you see
you're using magnet wire.) a change in which end of the nail
the north side of the compass
2. Wrap your wire many, many points to?
times around the nail. The more
times you wrap the wire, the What happened there? By hooking
stronger the electromagnet will be. that coil of wire up to the battery,
Be sure to always wrap in the you created an electromagnet.
same direction. If you start Remember, that moving electrons
wrapping clockwise, for example, causes a magnetic field. Well, by
be sure to keep wrapping connecting the two ends of your
clockwise. wire up to the battery, you caused
the electrons in the wire to move
3. Now connect one end of your through the wire in one direction.
wire to one terminal of the battery Since many electrons are moving
using an alligator clip (just like we in one direction, you get a
did in the circuits from Unit 10). magnetic field! The nail helps to
focus the field and strengthen it. In
4. Lastly, connect the other end of
fact, if you could see the atoms
the wire to the other terminal of
inside the nail, you would be able
the battery using a second alligator
to see them turn to align
clip lead to connect the
themselves with the magnetic field
electromagnet wire to the battery
created by the electrons moving
wire. This is where the wire may
through the wire. You might want
begin to heat up, so be careful.
to test the nail by itself now that
you’ve done the experiment. You
5. Move your compass around your
may have caused it to become a
electromagnet. Does it affect the
permanent magnet!
compass?
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