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electromagnet.mdx

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title Electro-magnet experiment
description Measure the magnetic force from an electro-magnet

MicroData lets you leverage the micro:bit's magnetometer to measure magnetic force from an electro-magnet in real-time. This experiment investigates how the voltage, number of turns of wire and distance affect the magnetic field of an electro-magnet.

Requirements:

  • 9 Volt or 12 Volt battery, copper wire, an iron nail.
  • Optionally: resistors

Experiment

How to build an electro-magnet:

  1. Wrap the copper wire around the iron nail: Electro-magnet

  2. Turn your battery off, then connect one of the ends of wire to the positive terminal and the other end to the negative terminal: Electro-magnet

MicroData setup:

  1. On the MicroData home screen click on Real-time Data: On the MicroData home screen click on Real-time Data

  2. Select the Magnet sensor: Select the Magnet sensor

  3. Press Done and see the micro-tesla readings from the magnometer: Press Done and see the micro-tesla readings from the magnometer.

Tests:

  1. What is the reading on the magnetometer when there is no electromagnet nearby?

  2. What is the reading on the magnetometer when using a 9 Volt battery with 15 turns of wire, when the micro:bit is 5cm from the electromagnet?

  3. What is the reading on the magnetometer when using a 9 Volt battery with 15 turns of wire, when the micro:bit is 1cm from the electromagnet?

  4. Name 1 control variable used for question 2 and question 3.

  5. What is the reading on the magnetometer when using a 9 Volt battery with 30 turns of wire, when 5cm away from the micro:bit?

  6. What is the reading on the magnetometer when using a 9 Volt battery with 30 turns of wire, when 1cm away from the micro:bit?

  7. Name 1 independent variable in questions 5 and 6?

  8. How does the magnetic field strength change as the electromagnet is moved closer to the micro:bit?

  9. How does the magnetic field strength change as the number of turns of wire increases?

  10. Why is it that increasing the number of wire turns changes the magnetic field strength?

  11. Which affected the strength of the magnetic field more: changing the number of turns of wire, or changing the distance? Show your working and use appropriate units.

Questions:

  1. Name one control variable and why it was important.
  2. Which setup had the highest reading on the magnometer?
  3. Create a graph with the magnometer reading on the y-axis and the distance on the x-axis. Using the data from Tests 4, 5 & 6.