How to Making an Electromagnet
Making an electromagnet is a very simple project. All you need is an iron nail or spike, some copper wire and a battery. So long as your battery works and you remember to only wrap the coil in one direction, you should have a working electromagnet. If you take a bit of extra care, you will get a fairly powerful magnet to play with.
Things You'll Need:
6-inch iron nail
Iron spike
Lantern battery
Single strand insulated copper wire
Tape
Glue
Wire cutters
Wire strippers
1
Get a core for your electromagnet. An iron railroad spike is good, but a 6-inch iron nail will work, too.
2
Use wire strippers to remove the insulation from the end of your spool of wire. Peel off at least an inch of insulation.
3
Leaving several inches hanging off the end of the core, wrap the coil from one end to the other, winding it as tightly as possible.
4
Attach the coil to the magnet. Use a drop of glue at each end or wrap the whole thing in tape.
5
Cut the spool of wire loose from the magnet, leaving several inches of wire. Strip the end of the wire as in step 3.
6
Attach the electromagnet to the battery. Put one of the exposed wires into the spring of the positive battery terminal. Touch the other end to the negative terminal to turn the battery on.
7
Pick up as many paper clips as you can at once with the magnets. Try to pick up other small, metal objects to find out what a magnet is attracted to and what isn't. Record your observations.
Tips & Warnings
To supercharge your electromagnet, use two wrappings of wire. Once you are done coiling the wire and affixing it to the battery, run it back to the side you started from and begin wrapping the battery a second time in the same direction.
Try changing the thickness of the wire. Thicker wire conducts better, but thinner wire lets you wrap more coils around the magnet. See which makes the electromagnet that can pick up the most paper clips at once.
Don't leave the electromagnet on when you are not using it as it will quickly wear out the battery.
Never turn your magnet on near electronic equipment. Magnets can ruin computers,
televisions
and many other things.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4489046_making-electromagnet.html
Making an electromagnet is a very simple project. All you need is an iron nail or spike, some copper wire and a battery. So long as your battery works and you remember to only wrap the coil in one direction, you should have a working electromagnet. If you take a bit of extra care, you will get a fairly powerful magnet to play with.
Things You'll Need:
6-inch iron nail
Iron spike
Lantern battery
Single strand insulated copper wire
Tape
Glue
Wire cutters
Wire strippers
1
Get a core for your electromagnet. An iron railroad spike is good, but a 6-inch iron nail will work, too.
2
Use wire strippers to remove the insulation from the end of your spool of wire. Peel off at least an inch of insulation.
3
Leaving several inches hanging off the end of the core, wrap the coil from one end to the other, winding it as tightly as possible.
4
Attach the coil to the magnet. Use a drop of glue at each end or wrap the whole thing in tape.
5
Cut the spool of wire loose from the magnet, leaving several inches of wire. Strip the end of the wire as in step 3.
6
Attach the electromagnet to the battery. Put one of the exposed wires into the spring of the positive battery terminal. Touch the other end to the negative terminal to turn the battery on.
7
Pick up as many paper clips as you can at once with the magnets. Try to pick up other small, metal objects to find out what a magnet is attracted to and what isn't. Record your observations.
Tips & Warnings
To supercharge your electromagnet, use two wrappings of wire. Once you are done coiling the wire and affixing it to the battery, run it back to the side you started from and begin wrapping the battery a second time in the same direction.
Try changing the thickness of the wire. Thicker wire conducts better, but thinner wire lets you wrap more coils around the magnet. See which makes the electromagnet that can pick up the most paper clips at once.
Don't leave the electromagnet on when you are not using it as it will quickly wear out the battery.
Never turn your magnet on near electronic equipment. Magnets can ruin computers,
televisions
and many other things.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4489046_making-electromagnet.html
