E&M 101
Mag-Behaving
Build-Your-Own Electromagnet
Data, data, data
Situations
100

This object has the ability to attract or repel other objects at a distance. 

What is a magnet

100

This phrase tells about the behavior of magnets when the same poles and opposite poles are placed near each other. 

What is, "Like poles repel, opposites attract?" 

100

Woohoo! You're building an electromagnet, and you are using two 9-volt batteries as the ___________ for the circuit!

What is the source (of voltage)? 

100

A bar magnet has a mass of 5 grams. A fridge magnet has a mass of 0.5 grams. This magnet will have a stronger magnetic field.

What is the bar magnet? 
100

A magnetic levitation train, or "Mag-Lev," can go upwards of 200 miles per hour because the rails and underside of the train repel each other so that the train floats above the tracks. This is because the rails and the train's underside have this.

What are like poles? 

200

This invisible area around a magnet exerts a force on other objects which can attract or repel. 

What is a magnetic field

200

Two like poles walk into a restaurant and sit next to each other. _______ _______ is the reason that they immediately push each other away. 

What is magnetic repulsion? 

200
Whoa! Your electromagnet is pretty strong because you increased the number of coils of wire, increased the current, and moved the coils closer together. What is one last thing you can do to make it stronger? 

What is "add a metal core" / "increase the size of the metal core" ? 

200

A U-magnet held 2 centimeters away from an object will have a __________ magnetic force than if it was held 5 centimeters away.

What is (a) stronger (magnetic force)? 

200

A junkyard electromagnet is able to lift and drop old trucks because the magnetic field can be turned on and off by activating or deactivating this factor of Ohm's Law. 

What is the electric current? 

300

This is the name for a closed loop that carries electricity.

What is a circuit

300

A North Pole causes another pole to be repelled. ____ ___ must be the identity of the other pole. 

What is a North Pole? 

300

Oh no! Your batteries are draining quickly and losing their power because the electromagnet is always on. What circuit component could you add to fix this? 

What is a switch? 

300

An electromagnet running with a current of 1.5 amps picks up 3 paper clips. It will hold this many paper clips if the current is doubled. 

What is double the original number of paperclips / 6 paperclips? 

300

"Magnetic North" is the name for the north pole of Earth's magnetic field. It is caused by the movement of magnetic elements inside Earth's crust. This device uses magnetic north to indicate direction.

What is a compass? 

400

This device uses an electric current to generate a magnetic field, or vice versa.

What is an electromagnet

400

Pole X repels Pole Y. Pole Z is opposite to Poles X and Y. Pole Z will create the effect of _____________________ towards X and Y. 

What is magnetic attraction? 

400

Hmm... your electromagnet isn't picking up many objects. Your buddy says that if you removed some resistance from the circuit, it would be stronger because of this resulting effect.

What is an increased current? 

400

Electromagnet 1 has 5 coils and 3 mA of current and Electromagnet 2 has 8 coils and 4 mA. Which electromagnet is stronger and why? 

Electromagnet 2 because it has more coils and more current? 

400

An EMP, or electromagnetic pulse, is a device that causes electronic devices to shut down without physically touching them because magnetic fields can operate ___ __ ___________.

What is "at a distance" ? 

500

An electromagnet produces a magnetic field because the electric current travels around a ______ ___ _____ that is wrapped around a ______ _______. 

What is a coil of wire and a metal core

500

Pole A attracts Pole B. Pole C will be a _______ _______ if Pole B repels Pole C and Pole A is a north pole. 

What is a South Pole? 

500

Too much! Your electromagnet is so strong, it's causing everything in the room to be attracted to it! These four changes can reduce the strength of your electromagnet: 

What is: 1) reduce the current 2) reduce the number of coils of wire 3) move the coils of wire further apart 4) decrease the size of/remove the metal core? 


500

The graph above shows an electromagnet investigation where students changed the number of turns (coils) on an electromagnet and recorded the average number of paperclips picked up. In this dataset, the number of turns is this variable

What is the independent variable? 

500

Moving electrons in circles in a coil of wire around a metal core creates a magnetic field. Rotating a metal core in circles inside a coil of wire causes... 

What is an electric current / electrons to move? 

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