Investigate the effect of strength and current using an electromagnet by how many coils you put on it and by changing the voltage.
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Introduction
An Investigation into Electromagnets
Aim-I am going to investigate the effect of strength and current using an electromagnet by how many coils you put on it and by changing the voltage.
Apparatus-
Power pack,
Wires,
Crocodile clips,
Ammeter,
Coils,
Paper clips (staples),
Variable resistor
Prediction- I think that the more current that goes through the wire, the greater the electromagnetic pull of the iron core will be. This is because the current going through the wire makes the iron core the factor that induces electromagnetism, as so when there is more current, there will be more electromagnetism. This is the same with the number of coils around the electromagnet, the more power is returned so therefore the more paper clips will be picked up.
Plan- The two variables are the number of coils and increasing the current. I am going to keep the
Middle
Magnets were formed when certain molten metals, (iron, nickel and cobalt,) cool. Normally when the atoms in a non-magnetic crystallise, the atoms point in random directions. But because of the properties of the metals mentioned, these atoms line up into parts of the magnetic with similar directions called domains. This is because the earth has a magnetic field, and the atoms in the metal all follow these magnetic lines and form these domains. This is similar to what happens when an electromagnet is formed.
Bibliography- I used the Internet and my science book to help me with my planning.
Conclusion
4
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Results- (second experiment changed current, kept coils the same)
(Only a maximum of 4 amps for both experiments)
Coils | Current (amps) | Paper clips |
10 | 0.5 | 2 |
10 | 1 | 2 |
10 | 1.5 | 4 |
10 | 2 | 6 |
10 | 2.5 | 8 |
10 | 3 | 12 |
10 | 3.5 | 9 |
10 | 4 | 15 |
Conclusion- I found out that the more coils wrapped around the iron core the more paper clips got picked up and the bigger the current going into the iron core the more paper clips got picked up this matched my prediction, apart from on the second experiment when 3.5 amps was going into the iron core it only picked up 9 paper clips this is a strange result but maybe I didn’t have 10 coils on the iron core this could have easily affected it.
Evaluation- I didn’t experience any problems as such but maybe next time I will keep other variables constant for example the size of staples used or the weight of the stables. I couldn’t look into electromagnetism in a lot more detail.
Oliver Minton 10JL
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