Secret of Magnetism

Research, p.1

Do you want to know a secret? First, consider this: When a magician performs a magic trick, many ask, “How did he do that?” Well…the true magician never tells because it is a secret. But when speaking about magnetism and its use in our everyday lives, you can learn the SECRET—the secret of magnetism! A true scientist would be glad to share his secrets through experimentation. Thus, I will share the secret with you. It begins with science—physics, to be exact: matter and energy, conduction and induction, magnetizing and demagnetizing. All will be explained in my science project. More importantly, to discover through experimentation that the secret behind magnetism could be its power! Let’s start by defining an electromagnet.

An electromagnet is a temporary magnet formed when electric current flows through a wire or a conductor. Most electromagnets consist of wire wound around an iron core. This core is made from soft iron that loses its magnetism quickly when the electric current stops flowing through the wire.

Electromagnetism is the branch of physics that studies the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Electromagnetism is based on the fact that (1) an electric current or a charging electric field produces a magnetic field or (2) a charging magnetic field produces an electric field.

In 1820, the Danish scientist Hans Oersted discovered that a conductor carrying an electric current is surrounded by a magnetic field. When he brought a magnetized needle near a wire in which an electric current was flowing, the needle moved. Because a magnetized needle is moved by magnetic forces, the experiment proved that an electric current produces magnetism.

Research, p.2

Also, during the 1820’s, the French physicist Andre’ Marie Ampere declared that electric currents produce all magnetism. He concluded that a permanent bar magnet has tiny currents flowing in it. The work Oersted and Ampere did led to the development of the electromagnet—which is used in such devices as the telegraph and the electric bell. They confirmed as stated earlier: Most electromagnets consist of a coil of wire wound around an iron core. The electromagnet becomes temporarily magnetized when electric current flows th...

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...you have any magnets around you? What shape are they? Magnets come in all shapes and sizes, but they all pull and push with an invisible force. Further, all magnets pull or attract some things but not others. For example, all magnets attract the metal iron. So, if you use a magnet to pick up safety pins or paper clips, it will only attract them if they contain iron.

You probably were aware that electricity can provide light, heat and sound. However, you probably did not know that electricity can also turn something into a magnet! Again, a magnet is anything that attracts or attaches to iron or steel. You have seen small magnets hold pictures and papers on refrigerator doors. There are a number of items in your home that need electromagnets to work, as I demonstrated with my doorbell experiment.

To conclude, as you’ve witnessed, magnets have the ability to expel a force on other magnets or pieces of magnetic material some distance away. The reason that they can do this is because magnets are weaker the farther they are away from another magnet. Now that you know how a magnet works, can you make one? I’ll give you a hint: the North pole and South pole.