Magnetic Activity
Magnetic Activity
Magnetic Activity
The electromagnet
interacts with a permanent magnet, causing the coil to spin. Voil! Youve created an electric
motor.
About 2 feet (60 cm) of solid (not stranded) enameled or insulated copper wire, 2024
gauge
Wire strippers (if youre using insulated wire) or sandpaper (if youre using enameled
wire)
Masking tape
Aluminum foil
Assembly
1. Wind the copper wire into a coil about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Make four or five
loops.
2. Wrap the ends of the wire around the coil a couple of times on opposite sides to hold the
coil together. Leave approximately 2 inches (5 cm) projecting from each side of the coil,
and cut off any extra (click to enlarge photo below).
3. If you are using insulated wire, strip the insulation off the ends of the wire projecting
from the coil. If you are using enameled wire, use sandpaper to remove the enamel.
4. Use the permanent marking pen to color one side of one of the projecting ends black.
(Note: It is very important that the orientation of the painted side corresponds to the
orientation shown in the image below. If the coil is held in a vertical plane, color the top
half of one of the wires black.)
5. Cut or tear two 1-inch-wide (2.5-cm-wide) strips of aluminum foil.
6. Unfold one end of each paper clip. On the unfolded section of each paper clip, wrap and
tape the end of an aluminum foil strip. Make sure the foil makes a good contact with the
clip.
7. Turn the cup upside down. Tape the paper clips to opposite sides of the bottom of the cup,
with the clips' unfolded ends pointing down and the aluminum foil trailing away from the
cup.
8. Keeping the cup upside down, place one magnet over the center of the bottom of the cup,
and then put one finger over the magnet to hold it in place.
9. Now, flip the cup right-side up. Attach one or more magnets to the inside the cup, directly
beneath the original magnet. This will create a strong magnetic field as well as hold the
outside/top magnet in place. Your view of the inside of the cup should look like the photo
below (click to enlarge).
10. Rest the ends of the copper-wire coil in the cradles formed by the loops in the paper clips.
Adjust the height of the paper clips so that when the coil spins, it clears the magnet by
about 1/16 inch (1.5 mm).
11. Adjust the coil and the clips so the coil will stay balanced and centered while spinning
freely on the clips. Good balance is important in getting the motor to operate well. If
necessary, trim excess wire from the protruding ends of the coil. (The length needed for
the two ends of the coil depends on the distance between the paper-clip cradles, which in
turn depends on the width of the base of the cup you are using.)
12. Make sure the two trailing strips of aluminum foil aren't touching each other. Stand your
battery on top of one of the foil strips, so that it rests on and makes contact with the foil.
Now, touch the other foil strip to the other end of the battery.
To Do and Notice
Give the coil a spin to start it turning. If it doesnt keep spinning on its own, check to make sure
that the coil assembly is well balanced when spinning, that the enamel has been thoroughly
scraped off (if you used enameled wire), that the projecting end has been painted with black
marking pen, and that the coil and the magnet are close to each other but do not hit each other.
You might also try adjusting the distance separating the paper-clip cradles: This may affect the
quality of the contact between the coil and the cradles. You might need to squeeze the unfolded
ends of the paper clips to ensure that the aluminum foil is making a good electrical contact.
Keep making adjustments until the motor works. Have patience! The success rate with this
design has been quite good.
Going Further
In this motor, the sliding electrical contact between the ends of the coil of wire and the paper
clips turns off the current for half of each cycle. Such sliding contacts are known as
commutators. Most direct-current electric motors use more complicated commutators that
reverse the direction of current flow through the loop every half cycle. The more complicated
motors are twice as powerful as the motor described here.
This motor can also be used to demonstrate how a generator works. Try hooking up the ends of
the paper clips to a sensitive galvanometer instead of the battery. Spin the coil and see if any
current registers on the meter.