Prediction
I think that by increasing the current running through the electromagnet then the more paperclips will be lifted, as I know from my background knowledge, that the more current going through the electromagnet will make it stronger and therefore more weight will be held.
If we decrease the current then the electromagnet will be weaker and will lift less paperclips.
By increasing the amount of coils in the wire and keeping the current at a constant flow, the amount of weight held will increase.
From my background knowledge, I know that this is because more electrical charge will be present and therefore the soft iron rod will hold more magnetic charge.
Method
In this experiment we are going to see what affect increasing the current will have on how many paperclips can be lifted by the electromagnet.
We will also see what affect keeping the current constant and increasing the number of coils in the wire has on the amount of paperclips lifted by the electromagnet.
Below I have written what we will do in both parts of the experiment.
*=Increasing the current
**=Increasing the coils
Step 1
* Set up the circuit like the one above, making sure there are 30 turns in the coil.
** Set up the circuit like the one above, making sure there are 5 turns in the coil.
Step 2
* Switch the power on and turn it up until there is enough current to lift one paperclip. (4 volts)
** Switch on the power and turn it up until there is enough current to lift one paperclip. (4 volts)
Step 3
* Increase the current by 2 volts and measure how many paperclips have been lifted.
** Increase the number of turns in the coil by 5 and measure the amount of paperclips lifted.
Step 4
* Increase the current by 2 volts each time and note down how many paperclips have been lifted, so this until you reach 11 volts.
** Increase the number of turns in the coil by 5 each time and note down how many paperclips have been lifted for each change, stop when you reach 40 turns.
This is a table to show our results when we increased the turns in the coil
This is a table to show our results when we increased the current
Analysis of Experiment
Through this experiment I found out that if you increase the amount of coils in the wire or increase the current then the amount of weight held by the electromagnet will also increase.
When we kept the current constant and increased the number of turns in the coils by 5 then the amount of paperclips being held also increased, although we only managed to lift one or two each time.
When we increased the current by 2 volts each time, the amount of paperclips being held also increased by one more almost on each change.
I noticed that the time where the most amount of paperclips was being held was at the beginning and then end of the experiment, during the middle the amount stayed constant, for example from 10-30 coils, keeping the current constant at 4 volts, the amount of paperclips kept at 3, and also, from 5 volts to 9 volts, keeping the number of turns in the coil constant at 30, the amount of paperclips being held stayed at 3.