Lesson 4 of 6

Electromagnets

Goal: Describe how to make an electromagnet.

Puzzles for this lesson

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An iron nail wound with copper wire, with paper clips clinging to its tip

A current in a wire makes a magnetic field around the wire. Wind insulated wire into a coil round an iron core, pass a current through it, and you have an electromagnet.

  • The field of the coil has the same shape as the field of a bar magnet, with a north pole at one end and a south pole at the other.
  • The iron core inside the coil makes the field much stronger.
  • Switch the current off and the field goes. An electromagnet is a magnet that you can turn on and off.

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Key words in this lesson

North pole The end of a magnet that points north when the magnet can turn freely

South pole The end of a magnet that points south when the magnet can turn freely

Magnetic field The space around a magnet where its magnetic force acts

Electromagnet A magnet that is turned on and off by the current through it

Core The piece of soft iron that a coil is wound round

For teachers: AQA 3.2.3 · Pearson Edexcel 33.7, 33.8 · Cambridge 8Pe.02