Science

Electromagnetic therapy as a system of healing has existed for more a century. Though often considered too advanced during the 1900s, the practice has made a comeback among those looking for...

An electromagnet requires an electrical current to work. When an electromagnet is disconnected from its power source, it is no longer magnetic. The huge cranes that pick up metal in junkyards work...

Electromagnets are fundamentally useful devices, producing controllable amounts of magnetic force from an electric current. The strongest magnets are cool, have many turns of wire in their coils...

The beauty of this project is its simplicity. Making this motor will show you the basics of how a motor works. All you need are a few cheap household items. This project is great for kids or...

Faraday's Law describes the way in which moving a magnet through a coiled wire will induce voltage (a.k.a. electromotive force or "emf" for short). To calculate the voltage generated by a single...

Magnetism comes in a variety of forms. Ferromagnetic materials have strong magnetic attraction. Iron and similar metals have this property. Most other metals are paramagnetic, or weakly...

A square D transformer uses a squared loop or ring of magnetizable material as the medium through which electrical energy is transferred from one electrical circuit to another. The square D is...

Devices that run using electrical power (phones, computers, dishwashers and coffee machines) are used on a daily basis and make our lives easier. Electricity is brought to our homes with the use...

Magnets attract, or pull, some kinds of metal objects. Stronger magnets exert a greater pull on the objects they attract. Sometimes it would be useful if you could "turn off" a magnet when you did...

In the 1930s, soldiers found a nifty way to listen to the news. Using a few simple household supplies, anyone can build a foxhole radio. You don't need a crystal diode or batteries to make it...

Since electricity was brought to our homes, life kept getting easier. Inventions that use electrical power to run and that make our activities easier, continue to be developed, including personal...

A reed switch is a device built to work with magnets. When it is placed near a magnetic field, two thin ferrous strips inside of it connect and close the switch. Magnet switches are useful because...

Magnet-making has been taught in classrooms for many years, and with good reason. It is an interesting and educational project that is simple to accomplish with the right materials and the proper...

In an electromagnet, a magnetic field is generated around a piece of metal wrapped in copper wire by the flow of electricity through the coiled wire. Electromagnets were design by a danish...

Magnets are fun toys that can be easily made at home. Making a magnet--more specifically, an electromagnet--is safe and can be a good introduction to the world of science. This is a fun project...

An electro magnet has advantages over a permanent magnet in that it may be turned on and off at will. It can be used in a science class to demonstrate the movement of electrons in a wire and to...

Making a home electro-magnet is a fun way to teach kids about the principles of magnetism in an easy to make experiment. Step One: Wrap the copper wire from one end to the other around the nail...

A Gauss meter, also known as a magnetometer, is an electronic instrument for measuring the strength of magnetic fields, usually in units of Gauss. They are used as metal detectors, to compare the...

Creating a magnetic needle is a simple project, which is often used in elementary school science classrooms. A magnetized needle is also a tool used by naturalists or hikers when in need of an...

The Earth is a giant magnet, with a north magnetic pole and south magnetic pole like the two ends of a bar magnet. And like a bar magnet, the Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that interacts...

While it is possible to make a piece of iron magnetic by stroking it in one direction with a strong magnet, the resulting magnet tends to be rather weak. To create a powerful magnet, the easiest...

Developed in the 1950s and 1960s, modern Hall Effect sensors are a convenient, economical way to detect position in mechanical systems. The effect, first discovered by Edwin Hall in 1879, produces...

An electromagnet is an iron core with a coil of wire wrapped around it. When a current runs through the wire, the iron core becomes magnetized. You can create your own electromagnet rater easily...

A particle accelerator is a machine that uses magnet fields to accelerate tiny, charged particles at high velocities. Learn about the advantages of circular particle accelerators with help from a...

Magnet wire is wire that is specifically created to construct coils that produce electromagnetic fields when energized The energizing may be done by AC or DC power sources.

You can make your own magnet and make it spin with just a few items. This intriguing device is the exact opposite of an electric generator; it is a simple electric motor. In the following...

When the magnetic dipoles of a metallic object are aligned into a direction, magnetism occurs. To demagnetize a magnet, you must randomize, or cause disorder, in the magnetic dipoles. There are...

Whenever electricity flows through a wire, it creates a magnetic field. In a single wire, this field is usually pretty weak. A coil, however concentrates the magnetic field. Each coil of wire...

The easiest way to create a powerful magnetic field is by creating a powerful electromagnet. Electromagnets are used for everything from powering tiny electronic switches (called relays) to...

The homopolar motor is one of the oldest electrical tricks in the book, discovered back in the 1800s. This is a fun little project that will show some amazing properties of magnetism and...

Creating a permanent magnet is a difficult process. However, it is simple to temporarily magnetize material as long as you already possess a strong magnet and have something capable of being...

All magnets have two poles - positive and negative. In order to make a negative charge magnet, you will have to make a simple magnet. A simple magnet is created by running an electrical current...

Electricity and magnetism are two closely related forces that make up the larger force of electromagnetism. You can use electricity to create a magnetic field and you can use a magnetic field to...

A stepper motor is a kind of electric motor designed for precise control. Unlike other types of electric motors, a stepper motor turns in a series of small, fixed steps. By controlling the number...

Electricity and magnetism turn out to be the same thing, which is why scientists speak of electromagnetics. You can make a magnet with a simple electric current. The secret lies in making the...

A solenoid works by having electricity flow through its copper wire that is provided by a power supply and a switch. Discover how a solenoid becomes a magnet when electricity is supplied to it...

A compass, in its simplest form, is a piece of magnetized material that is more or less linear in shape. It responds to Earth's magnetic field by orienting itself along a north-south axis.

An electromagnet is a type of magnet that works by having an electric current pass through a series of wires. The wires are usually tightly coiled and often wrapped around a core made of iron to...

Making a magnetized nail at home or in the classroom is an easy way to demonstrate the properties of magnetics. The magnetic strength of the nail can be increased, or it can be removed altogether....

Make a speaker from a pair of old CDs. These CD speakers are fun to play with and quite decorative if you build them with the shiny part out. They stick to your refrigerator with the magnets on...

Make a plate speaker from objects around the house. Start with a deep plate like the kind that risotto (an Italian rice dish) is served on. It should be almost deep enough to be considered a...

An electromagnet is a temporary magnet that turns on only when current runs through it. Electromagnets consist of coils of wire wrapped around a magnetic core. A tightly wound coil, a good...

Make a speaker out of paper plates to impress your friends. If you thought that having enough speakers to satisfy your computer's surround sound capabilities would take weeks and cost a lot of...

This is a set of instructions for use in a well stocked chemistry lab. It will explain step by step the method of making iron magnetic nanoparticles. Nanotechnology is the use of tiny particles...

A compass is a very simple device that consists of a magnetic needle connected to a low-friction pivot point that always points to magnetic north, or the North Pole. A compass uses a lightweight...

This article will show you how to make the most simple motor in the world.

The strength of an electromagnet is directly related to the number of turns in the wire coil that is used to make the magnet. Discover how to increase the current to increase the strength of...

An electromagnet, as opposed to a permanent magnet, can be switched off and designed to provide greater strength. Find out how to wrap a coil wire to make an electromagnet with help from a science...

Making a 110 Switch Magnet is an easy task. You can substitute this homemade switch magnet for a store-bought Reed Switch. This will save you money over time as Reed Switches do not last long and...

A stepper motor is a brushless, digital electric motor that operates synchronously. The motor is capable dividing a full rotary motion into incremental short steps resulting in very small, finite...