How do I create an electromagnet ?

Question

I read in a book that passing current through a coiled wire with an electric wire with an iron core creates an electromagnet.
When I tried this and inserted the two loose ends of the wire into an AC 230 V Outlet, it got short-circuited . So how am I supposed to create this electromagnet ?

I read in a book that passing current through a coiled wire with an electric wire with an iron core creates an electromagnet.
When I tried this and inserted the two loose ends of the wire into an AC 230 V Outlet, it got short-circuited . So how am I supposed to create this electromagnet ?

Will a 6 volt or 9 volt battery be powerful enough ?

Answer 1

Try this. Take a nail, 9volt battery and some wire. Wrap the wire around the nail, and connect both ends to the battery (one to positive and one to negative). The nail will become a magnet (due to electricity), making an electromagnet.

Use extreme caution when using 230V AC outlet (especially with loose wires. All sorts of problems can arise, especially when not using the right wires and insulation for wires. Possible death situation here.

Answer 2

Electricity flowing through a wire creates a magnetic field. By increasing the amount of wire and concentrating the magnetic field around a metal object, you can make a magnet.

Materials:
• a number 22 or 24 insulated bell wire (this works best, but any insulated wire will do)
• a large iron nail
• paper clips
• a D cell battery
• a partner





Procedure:
1. Touch the nail to the paper clips. Notice that the nail does not attract the paper clips.
2. Wrap the wire tightly around the nail. Leave about 1/2 meter of wire free at both ends.
3. Place the paper clips in a pile on a table.
4. Hold the top of the nail and point the sharp end toward the paper clips.
5. Ask your partner to touch the wire ends to the two poles of the battery. (Do not hold the wires on the battery for more than 10 seconds to avoid draining the battery and causing the wire to overheat.)
6. At the same time, touch the end of the nail to the paper clips. Are you able to pick up paper clips now? Yes or No?
7. Ask your partner to remove one wire from the battery. What happens to the paper clips?


a 9volt

Answer 3

First, you must understand how magnetism occurs between a voltage, a wire and a core.

Lets keep it simple. The voltage source is the force which pushes the electrons to flow from (-) to (+) ends of the wire. Orbiting the electrons is a small magnetic field rotating around it.

But hey, where is the magnet?
That small amount of magnetic field of the electron on the wire when concentrated to an area called the core, makes a strong electromagnet. The longer the wire coiled around the core, the greater the amount of magnetism.

Don't try 220 VAC, it's very deadly!
A 9-volt battery will do and a long wire with the core.

Answer 4

A little knowledge is always a dangerous thing ☺

Get some smaller guage wire (about 28 or 30 Ga, with varnish insulation) and wind a couple hundred turns of it around a large nail (an electric drill helps ☺) Then connect a simple 1.5V dry cell (a size C or D) across the coil and you'll have an electromagnet.
It probably won't be able to pick up more than a couple of other nails, but you'll actually see it work. Then, if you're still interested, go search the web for information on electromagnets.

Doug

Answer 5

An electromagnet is an object that acts like a magnet, but its magnetic force is created and controlled by electricity--thus the name electromagnet. By wrapping insulated wire around a piece of iron and then running electrical current through the wire, the iron becomes magnetized. This happens because a magnetic field is created around a wire when it has electrical current running through it. Creating a coil of wire concentrates the field. Wrapping the wire around an iron core greatly increases the strength of the magnetic field.

Answer 6

Materials Required

Several feet of insulated wire
6-Volt Battery
A nail (or a bolt)
Permanent Magnet
Small metal objects (e.g., thumbtacks, paper clips, etc.)

How to Build It

Begin at one end of the nail and wrap the wire in small loops around the nail. The loops should be tight around the nail.

Experiment

Attach the ends of the wire to the terminals of the battery. Touch the end of the nail to one of the metal objects. The object should stick to the nail. See how many objects you can pick up.

Now try wrapping more wire back over the loops previously made. The wire should still wrap around the nail the same way as before. Attach it the battery again and see how many objects you can pick up now.

Now let us determine which side of the electromagnet is north and which is south. Bring the north side of the permanent magnet (PM) to one end of the nail. Does the electromagnet repel or attract the PM? If the electromagnet repels the permanent magnet, then it is the north side of the electromagnet; if the electromagnet attracts the PM, then it is the south side. Just as opposite charges attract, so do opposite poles.

Troubleshooting

If your electromagnet does not seem to be working, try the following:

Check the wire connections to your battery.
Try making more loops around the nail.
Try picking up smaller objects.
Try a different nail or bolt.

hope i have helped!

Answer 7

Herbie got it right.The reason your AC didn't work is that it creates a magnetic field one way then exactly wipes it out when the current alternates. remember; any time you short out the + and - pole of a battery you are going to be creating heat and a chemical reaction that will damage the battery. The large electromagnets that are used to lift many tons of iron or steel at a time contain miles of coils and run on 3 phase pulsating DC to keep the impedance high ..the higher the voltage and current the stronger the magnet.
another way to test the pole of a magnet is : After you have magnetized your little mag place it on something that floats in a glass bowel away from other metal objects.. It will slowly turn till it is pointing N/S its north pole points north .. you have just made a compass.

Answer 8

Just for clarification, the reason the AC didn't work WAS NOT because it applied a field one way and then the other... it was because a circuit with no resistance (the wire you used / short circuit) will draw way too much current and trip the breaker / blow the fuse. Unless you have some background in electrical engineering or electricity, I would strongly advise you to stay away from experimenting with home power-lines.

Answer 9

Get a battery, two magnetic items such as nails, and 2 lengths of wire. Coil the wires - one on each nail and hook to the battery terminals. they will attract magnetic objects

Answer 10

WRAP A COIL OF WIRE AROUND A SCREW AND THEN TOUCH THE 2 ENDS OF THE WIRE TO THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF A BATTERY. THEN THE CURRENT PASSING THROUGH THE WIRE WILL MAGNITIZE SCREW. THE HIGHER AMPERAGE OF THE BATTERY THE BETTER THE MAGNET............. DEAR GOD MAKE SURE ITS AN INSULATED WIRE