"Making an Electromagnet"

D. Theoretical Framework:

In 1820, Danish scientist Hans Christian Oesterd (1777-1851) had a stoke of luck while performing an electrical experiment. Oesterd had a compass on his bench near a wire that was connected to a battery. He noticed that when the electric current was switched on, the compass needle moved. He realized that the current flowing through the wire was producing a magnetic effect. This was the discovery of electromagnetism, the related effects of electricity and magnetism. Electric currents have magnetic effects, and magnetic fields can produce electric currents.

An electromagnet is a magnet which is made by letting electricity pass through a coil of wire around an iron core. The magnetic effect of an electric current flowing in a wire can be intensified if the wire is wound into a coil. The iron nails in this activity are the core. The electric current supplied by the dry cell. The flow of electrons along a wire is called an electric current. When there is electric current, a magnetic filed is created. .In the activity, some of the copper wire needs to be exposed so that the battery can make a good electrical connection, and the rest of the wire was wrapped around the nail. The more wire wrapped around the nail, the stronger the electromagnet will be. The wire should also be wrapped in one direction only. The direction of a magnet field depends on the direction of the electric current creating it. The movement of electric charges creates a magnetic field. If some of the wire was wrapped around the nail in one direction and some of the wire in the other direction, the magnetic fields from the different sections fight each other and cancel out, reducing the strength of the electromagnet.

When the ends of the wire were connected to the battery, the electrons behave very differently. They all move in the same direction along the wire, toward the positive terminal of the battery. The exposed ends of the wire were attached to the positive and negative terminals of the battery. It doesn't matter which end of the wire is attach to the positive terminal of the battery and which one is attach to the negative terminal. The electromagnet will work just as well either way. What will change is the magnet's polarity. One end of the magnet (which is the nail) will be its north pole and the other end will be its south pole. Reversing the way the battery is connected will reverse the poles of your electromagnet.

E. Blueprint

F. Results and Discussions:

In this section of the technical paper, the proponents will reveal the observations, findings, number of trials, and trouble shooting in this project.

In the first trial, the group used a shorter nail which is 8 cm long. In this case the group also used a shorter wire. For the time being, the group used staples in substitute for paper clips in order to judge the magnetic property of the nail more clearly. They can judge it better since paper clips are more massive than staple wires. However, due to the limited coils that the group can make in the short nail, it was not powerful enough to attract the desired number of staple wires. They have to increase the number of coils since it is directly proportional to the number of staple wires it can attract.

The group then decided to make a second trial which aims to improve the result of the project. They decided to use a longer nail which measures 10 cm in order to make more coils to the wire. Also to make more coils, the proponents then decided to use longer copper wire. This however was not able to attract the desired number of staple wires.

Finally the group decided to use the same size of nail but used an even longer and thinner copper wire. This was done in order to make more coiled wire attached in the nail. Then, with this kind of structure, the group was able to conclude that the electromagnetic nail is a success since it was able to attract the desired number of staple wires.

G. Recommendations:

After inventing the electromagnet, the proponents would like to recommend a few practices for better project making in the future.

The group found this activity fun and worthwhile doing because a lot of scientific concepts were applied and it was amazing to see how the group's invention actually worked. The group highly recommends this kind of project for it is such a learning experience.

The group suggests that the more turns of wire your magnet has, the better and that the further the wire is from the core, the less effective it will be. The more current that passes through the wire, the better as well. But too much current can be dangerous, though. As electricity passes through a wire, some energy is lost as heat. The more current that flows through a wire, the more heat is generated. Things can quickly become too hot to handle.

The proponents recommend others to try experimenting with different cores. A thicker core might make a more powerful magnet.