ELECTROMAGNET

As published on the old Sony Beakman's World web site.

"Christian Oersted discovered that electricity traveling through a wire can move the needle of a compass. That means that a wire with electricity running through it is a kind of magnet... an electromagnet."

"Can we make one, huh? Can we? Huh? Huh? Can we? Can we?"

"Oh... okay. And you can make one, too!"

PENCIL ALERT!!

  1. Measure off a 6-inch piece of wire.
  2. Slowly and carefully wrap the wire around the iron nail in a neat row.
  3. When you've covered about three-fourths of the nail, start back the other way. The tighter you wind the wire and the more times you wind around the nail, the stronger your magnet will be.
  4. Use your sandpaper to scrape off the enamel insulation on the ends of the wire. This will expose the wire so you can hook it up to the battery.
  5. Tape one of the wire ends to the bottom end of the battery.
  6. Touch the other wire end to the bump on the top of the battery and -- Zaloom! -- your very own electromagnet. Use it to pick up your paper clips. When you remove one of the wire ends from the battery, your magnet will let go of the paper clips.
  7. BE CAREFUL! If you leave the wire ends connected to the battery for more than a few seconds, the wire will become very hot! And you'll wear out the battery very quickly.

    BONUS FACTS!!

    Until Oerstad's discovery in 1820, magnetism and electricity were studied as unrelated phenomena. Actually, magnetic force and electrical force are just different aspects of the same phenomenon: electromagnetism! A wire carrying an electric current is surrounded by a magnetic field just like a permanent magnet. On the other hand, when a wire moves through a magnetic field, an electric current is generated in the wire. In other words, electricity can be used to generate magnetism and magnetism can be used to generate electricity.

    An atom is surrounded by electrons which are constantly moving. Since a moving electric charge produces magnetism, an atom is actually a miniature electromagnet!

    The great advantage of electromagnets is that you can shut them off. This makes them very useful in moving scrap iron. But electromagnets are also an integral part of such useful devices as electric motors, buzzers and doorbells, solenoid switches, telephones, transformers, and loudspeakers.

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