EXPERIMENT 53
Even stronger
electrical effect
A permanent magnet can make iron mag-
netic. Can an electromagnet do that too?
HERE’S HOW
Use a nut to connect two screws together
(figure 1).
Wind the red alligator wire onto the
screws to form a spool (which it would be
good to tape in place as in figure 2).
Connect the alligator wire to the plug
wire as you did in the last experiment, and
the blue alligator wire to the battery.
Repeat the “intensified electrical effect”
experiment, but this time with the iron
piece inside the spool. What do you
notice?
Electromagnetism
TIP!
Only let the current flow
very briefly (a few sec-
onds), or the battery will
quickly get used up.
Strength from electricity
Electromagnets have two other distinct
advantages over permanent magnets.
First: You can turn them on or off when-
ever you like. Second: You can construct
them in such a way that they can handle
very strong electrical currents. These
currents can, in turn, produce magnetic
fields that are much more powerful than
anything a permanent magnet can
achieve.
53
WHAT’S HAPPENING
The spool’s power is noticeably
stronger, since the iron increases
the power of the electromagnet
quite a bit. It seems to concentrate
the power inside itself. So power-
ful electromagnets always have
an iron core.
1
2
Summary of Contents for Electricity and Magnetism 620417
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