Make Your OWN Magnet!

Considered the father of electromagnetism, British scientist  Michael Faraday furthered the field of magnetism by leaps and bounds. Although his math skills were barely at the algebraic level, his understanding of electromagnetism and electrochemistry led to big-time scientific breakthroughs in the early 1800’s. Oh, did we mention that he moonlighted as a chemist, discovering Benzene and inventing the Bunsen burner, among other amazing accomplishments?You can perform Faraday’s famous induction experiment at home with your kids, and introduce them to the magic of magnets and the amazing mysteries that can be solved by scientific exploration. It’s easiest than you might think:so go on, give it a try….First, ask your kids if they think there’s a way to make a non-magnetic object, like a nail, magnetic.Next, gather the following supplies:

• 1 Iron nail – roughly 3" long
• 3’ Thin coated copper wire
• New D battery
• Needle-nosed pliers or wire stripper
• Tape
• Several paper clips or other metal objects

Photo Courtesy Grandadscience.com

Now, follow these step-by-step instructions:

1. Leaving about 5"loose at the starting end, wrap the wire around the nail, being careful not to overlap anywhere.
2. Leaving 8" loose at the other end of the nail,cut the wire.
3. Use a wire stripper to peel back the plastic coating from both ends of the wire (many needle-nose pliers have a built-in wire stripper). You’ll only need to peel off about an inch of plastic from the wire – just enough to expose it and enable it to make contact with the ends of the battery.
4. Tape one end of the wire to one end of your battery and the other end to the other end of the battery. Be careful – the battery can get hot!
5. Point your nail toward the pile of paper clips – it should pick them up!

Photo Courtesy Grandadscience.com

Amazing, right? Here’s how it works:

Most magnets are permanent, meaning they are always magnetic (think about the ones on your fridge). This is because of the way their molecules are arranged. Electromagnets, however, are only magnetic when electricity, like what you provided with your battery, is flowing. When electricity is attached to a non-magnetic metal object, the molecules in the object are rearranged so that they are attracted to other metals—in other words, they become magnetic—until the electrical supply is cut off. For this reason, it’s extremely important to keep the wires of an electromagnet away from any electrical outlets.

Congratulations—you just made an electromagnet! Michael Faraday would be proud.