DIY Electro-Magnetism

Guiding Question: How does the size of the nail and number of coils affect the magnetic force of the nail?

Hypothesis: The increased amount of coils will result in a stronger magnet because the copper wire is a conductor.

Variables:

·        Control: Same base components e.g. battery and conductor (copper wire)

·        Manipulated: Length of nail, number of coils, and distance between each coil.

Exploration:

·        Materials:

1.     D-1.5 volt Batteries

2.     Copper wire

3.     Different sized nails (iron, not the ones on your fingers made of keratin).

·        Procedure:

1.     Get a medium sized nail (in comparison to all other nails you have) and wrap copper wire around it so it creates 5 coils on the entire nail. Get the ends of the coil from both sides of the nail and attach each end to the positive side and the negative side to make a circuit.

2.     Test to see if the circuit is complete by testing the electro-magnet on the metal object. If the object is attracted to the electro-magnet, the circuit is complete. If not, check the circuit again.

3.     When you get the electro-magnet working, test to see how quickly the magnet attracts the metal object and how solidly it holds on to the magnet.

4.     Write observations in the table below. Then try the same tests with different variables.

		Small Nail	Large Nail	Circular Nail (Optional)
5 Coils		3 Large nails	3 Large nails
10 Coils		5 Large nails	6 large nails
15 Coils		6 Large nails	9 Large nails

                            

5.     Make a graph based on the table to help with your analysis.

6.     Copy/Paste graph on No. 7

7.     :

Analysis: Based on the graph and table, what can you say about different variables and how they affected the electro-magnet’s power and strength? What could you do to make the electro-magnet more efficient/strong/quick? And is your hypothesis correct?

I can say by the chart that the larger nail gave off a stronger magnetic pull, while the shorter nail gave a slightly weaker magnetic pull. Also, the amount of coils strongly affected the strength of the electromagnet. The more coils, the more paperclips the magnet could pick up. A hypothetical theory I have for the large nail is every 5 coils = 3 more paperclips pulled up. To do this though, the power would have to be a constant charge, giving off constant power.
Conclusion:

My hypothesis was correct; the amount of coils did increase the strength of the magnet. The size of the nail did affect the strength; the larger nail made the magnet stronger. This means the larger the nail, the stronger the magnet. The amount of coils increased the strength of the magnet when there were more coils. 
Further Inquiry:

A further inquiry would be to make an even stronger magnet to pick up paperclips or even something stronger. I would do this by getting a larger nail and adding around 30 coils to make it super strong. Then I would get 2 or maybe even 3 D batteries to power the electro-magnet. All people who view my blog can try this at home, but with an adult since it can get very hot with wires.