Science lab Report criterion B+C
Research question:
How does the voltage of the battery powering the electromagnet affect the number of paper clips that are attracted to it?
Introduction:
In this experiment we are investigating how magnets and electromagnets are made . A magnet is any object that has a magnetic field and can attract and repel other magnetic objects. The only discovered magnetic materials are iron, nickel and cobalt. On a magnet, the two ends are called poles. The blue end is south, and the red one is north. (Magnetism) In this experiment we are making an electromagnet. Electromagnets are pieces of magnetic materials that are magnetised with an electric current instead of being rubbed by another magnet. Electromagnets can have certain benefits, such as you can change the strength of the magnet and you can turn them on and off. (Electromagnetism and magnetism) This experiment will benefit the production of junkyard magnets, as they use electromagnets to function. (Explain that stuff!)
Hypothesis:
I predict that the higher the voltage of the battery, the stronger the electromagnet will be since there will be more electricity flowing through the coil and the steel nail. However there is a limit to the voltage of the battery since if the voltage of the battery is too high, this may cause the copper coil and wires to overheat. (Electromagnetism and magnetism).
Independent variable:
The independent variable in this experiment is the voltage of the battery powering the electromagnet. This is because the voltage of the battery is the only thing we are going to change between the 5 trials of this experiment.
Dependent variable:
The dependent variable in this experiment is the number of paperclips the steel nail can attract when magnetised. ( There is no particular apparatus that we can use, as we are counting the paperclips.)
Control variables:
My control variables for this experiment are the number of coils and the space between the coils that are wrapped around the nail, the type of nail and the type of paper clips that are attracted to the nail. The importance of controlling the number of coils that are wrapped around the nail is both that the number of coils and the space in between them affects the strength of the electromagnet ( the number of paperclips the electromagnet will be able to pick up.) For example, the more coils and the closer they are to each other would make the magnet stronger whereas if there were only a few coils and they had gaps in between each other, the magnet would be far weaker. I will control this variable by counting the number of coils around the nail, and pushing the coils as close together as possible. The importance of controlling the type of nail is because the size and mass of an object would affect how easy it is to magnetise it. For example, a smaller and lighter object would be easier to magnetise, whereas a heavier and larger object would be harder to magnetise. I will control this variable by using the same nail for every trial. The importance of controlling the type of paperclips that are attracted to the nail is a similar reason to the one stated above, lighter and smaller objects are easier to be attracted by a magnet, whereas a larger and heavier object would be more difficult. I am going to control this variable by using the same make of paperclips for each trial. (Not the same exact ones, as if the paperclips had been attracted to the magnet on the first trial, they would be easier to attract on the second trial.
