Activities involving Electricity and Magnetism

1. Make an electromagnet. An electromagnet is nothing more than a wire wrapped around an iron or steel nail. The ends of the wire are then placed on the positive and negative terminals of the size ’D’ battery. Once a current is flowing through the wire the nail becomes a magnet.
1. Cut 1m of wire from the spool at your station
2. Sand the insulation from about 2cm of both ends of the 1m wire. Be sure to sand all the way around the wire.
3. Tightly and smoothly wrap the wire around the nail at your station, leaving about 6cm of both ends free of the nail
4. Put one end of the sanded wire on the positive terminal and the other at the negative terminal. See how many paper clips your magnet will pick up.
5. Determine which end of your magnet is N and which end is S, then figure out how to change the polarity of your magnet. Be sure to indicate how you were certain the polarity changed.
6. Figure out how to make your magnet stronger and verify that it really is stronger

i. Your report should include the following:

1. A step by step procedure of how the magnet was made

2. How many paperclips your magnet picked up

3. How you determined which end of the nail is positive and which end is negative

4. How you changed polarity and how you proved that you changed polarity

5. How you made the magnet stronger and how you proved that it really was a stronger magnet

6. Why was it difficult to hold the wires on the battery for very long? If your group figured out a way to make this problem go away indicate how you did so.

2. Make a coil of wire that will be used to produce an electric current.
1. Cut 2m of wire from the spool.
2. Sand 2cm of insulation from both ends of the wire.
3. Carefully wrap the wire into a coil about 5cm in diameter; this is 3 or 4 fingers. Be sure to leave 12cm of wire free from the coil.
4. Hook the ends of the wire to the ammeter at your station
5. Acquire the magnet assembly from Mr. Young
6. Pass the magnet assembly quickly and smoothly into and back out of the coil of wire.
7. Observe and record any changes you see on the ammeter

i. Your report should include the following:

1. A step by step procedure of how you made and used the coil of wire

2. The changes you observed in the ammeter

3. The effect of the speed at which the magnet moved into and out of the coil of wire

3. Make an electric motor from the coil of wire
1. Cut both ends off the coil so that, with the coil in the center of the D battery, the ends will extend 1.5cm past the end of the battery. Be sure to collect the cut wire throw the wire away.
2. Take two of the paper clips used for the magnet test and bend them so that one end will be in contact with the terminals of the battery and the other end can be used as a trough supporting the coil. The coil must be able to rotate freely above the magnet with about 1cm to spare.
3. Carefully, very carefully, sand the insulation from the top half of one end of the coil. Sand all the insulation off the other end of the coil.
4. Acquire a magnet from Mr. Young
5. Place the magnet on the battery with the coil, set on the paperclip troughs, which are touching the terminals of the magnet, above the magnet.
6. Give the coil a gentle push and watch it go!

i. Your report should include the following:

1. A step by step procedure of how you made the motor

2. What happened when you gave the coil a gentle push

3. Why it was important to sand all on one end of the wire but only half the other end

4. What happened when you turned the magnet over