Electromagnet

[gotpho]

I'm doing a project on "What Factors Affect the Strength of an Electromagnet?"

 

I'm in highschool so I kind of need a highschool level idea:D I mean just testing the coil is really easy. I plan on testing the voltage on a electromagnet but that's really all i got as an idea to test my project.

 

Help please.

[pgrmdave]

Different metals? Different temperatures? Number of coils? Radius of coils?

[Turtle]

I'm doing a project on "What Factors Affect the Strength of an Electromagnet?"

 

I'm in highschool so I kind of need a highschool level idea:D I mean just testing the coil is really easy. I plan on testing the voltage on a electromagnet but that's really all i got as an idea to test my project.

 

Help please.

 

Try making coils using different gauge wires and keeping the voltage constant. Or, using the same gauge, try making coils with different lengths of wire. Or, vary the length of the axis of your coil. :shrug:

[gotpho]

umm...what are guage wires?

[InfiniteNow]

Gauge in a wire is a measurement of thinkness. Like a cigar, the higher the "gauge" the wider the cigar. A crayon would have a lower gauge than a thick magic marker. Hence, higher gauged wire will transmit more energy. Je le pense que...

[pgrmdave]

I thought guage was inverse - the lower the guage the thicker the wire.

[Jay-qu]

At any rate changing the guage of a wire will change its resistance, changing the resistance will change the current (at constant voltage) - which is one of variables that the strength changes with. That is, more current = stronger field

[eric l]

I thought guage was inverse - the lower the guage the thicker the wire.

Very short answer : American wire gauge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[GAHD]

Tried playing with the shapes that you wind your coils? doughnut, bar.

 

using AC or DC current (+# of phases)

 

presence of other magnets, their polarity in relation to the first.

[IDMclean]

Watts, Amps, Volts, and Ohms. These are your key variables for an Electromagnet.

 

Formulas and Calculation

 

 

You can mess with these things in a variety of ways. Increase Resistence by increasing the tempature of the wire. This can be achieved in a number ways also, by artifical heating, or by putting more amps through a wire than it is rated for (careful, this can be dangerous depending on how much and how long).

 

The thickness of a wire helps determine the number of amps you can put through at any given time. A thicker wire means more amps. Conductance of the wire also comes into question, as it can determine the amount of voltage you can put through at any given time.

 

Copper wire is better, for example, than Iron. Gold better than silver, and silver better than copper (I do believe, though I would need to double check). This goes back to the heat issue. Each material has a different index of heat tolerance. Each one accumilates resistence at a different rate than the other. If I am not mistaken.

 

Well that's all I can think of for now. Have fun and be safe.

[gotpho]

Thanks for the suggestion

 

Would using a battery be fine for the voltage source?

[Jay-qu]

Yes, I have made one with a 9V battery but less would suffice.

[IDMclean]

I would agree, but I would advice caution in using a battery. A magent, as some might know, can be used to induct electric current, and if done inappropiately, can cause a battery to heat up (due to current backflow, I think) and in some cases explode.

[gotpho]

They sell these kind of battery anywhere right? No need for special order?

[Jay-qu]

Nope, supermarkets or electronic stores should do the trick ;)

[gotpho]

Ya, I know it's been a month and I just started my project:D

 

At my first attempt with a 9 V battery I barely got 2 paper clip with just 14 coil.

 

With a 1.5 volt battery i got 1 paper coil with 14 coil

 

Are my results normal?

Should I take the skin off the copper wire?

Do I need like 100 coils to get a long chain?

[ronthepon]

Try using smaller peices of iron to pick up.

 

What is the core that you're winding the wires around? And how are you doing it exactly?

 

Don't take the skin off the copper wire, it's not nessecary to do so and winding the copper wires will become a very difficult task anyway.

 

Remember: More the number of coils, and smaller the length of the electromagnet, the stronger your magnet will be.

 

You're making a 'solenoid', and the magnetic feild that you'll form depends directly on the number of coils per unit length.