KS4 Physics

Electromagnetism

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 Contents

Electromagnetism

Magnets

Magnetic fields

Electromagnets

Summary activities

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 Magnetic or non-magnetic?
A magnetic material is attracted
to magnets and can be made N S
into a magnet.
Investigate different materials to find out which are attracted
to a magnet and record your results in a table.

Magnetic Non-magnetic
materials materials

Which materials are attracted to a magnet?

iron, steel, cobalt and nickel

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 Using magnets to separate coins
How can a magnet be used to separate coins made from
steel and coils made from gold?

N S

Steel coins are attracted to a magnet but gold coins are not.

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 Magnetic materials
What materials can magnets be
made from? N S
iron, steel, cobalt and nickel

Iron is easy to magnetise and also loses its magnetism easily.

Iron is called a soft magnetic material.

Steel is harder to magnetise but does not lose its magnetism

easily. Steel is called a hard magnetic material.

Magnets are usually made of steel and other hard magnetic

materials because they can retain their magnetism.

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 Contents

Electromagnetism

Magnets

Magnetic fields

Electromagnets

Summary activities

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 What is a magnetic field?
Where would you find a magnetic field?

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 Magnetic field of a bar magnet
Around every magnet is an invisible force field that will affect
all magnetic objects inside it.
The magnetic field of a bar magnet is seen with iron filings.

strongest
N S field at
poles

What does the magnetic field around a bar magnet look like?
Where is the magnetic field strongest?
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 Forces between magnets – experiment

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 Repulsion and attraction

S N N S
repel/attract

N S S N
repel/attract

S N S N
repel/attract

Unlike poles attract. Like poles repel.

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 Revising magnetism (1)

iron or steel
1. Magnets are made from which materials? ____________

2. What are the ends of a magnet called? poles

________

3. What do we call the area around a magnet

magnetic field
where a magnetic force exists? _______________

4. What does the word attract mean? pull together

_____________

5. What does the word repel mean? push apart

_____________

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 Revising magnetism (2)

repel
6. What will two north poles do if brought together? ______
repel
7. What will two south poles do if brought together? ______

8. What will a north pole and a south pole do

if brought together? attract
_______

9. What materials are attracted by magnets? _____________

iron and steel

10. Is magnetism a contact or non-contact force? ___________

non-contact

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 Contents

Electromagnetism

Magnets

Magnetic fields

Electromagnets

Summary activities

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 What is an electromagnet?
A coil of wire acts like a bar magnet when it has an
electric current flowing through it.

One end of the coil becomes a north-seeking pole (N pole).

One end of the coil becomes a south seeking pole (S pole).
This is called an electromagnet.
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 Making an electromagnet
Apparatus:
 batteries
 wire
 iron nail

What to do:
1. Wrap a coil of wire around the iron nail.
2. Connect the coil of wire to the batteries.
3. See how many paperclips the electromagnet can pick up.

Results:
How many paperclips could the electromagnet pick up?
How could the electromagnet pick up more paperclips?
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 Investigating electromagnets – experiment

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 Investigating electromagnets – results (1)
The results for the number of drawing pins attracted to the
electromagnet with no core are:
number
of cells 1 2 3
number
of coils
4 2 4 6
8 4 8 12
12 6 12 18
How does changing the current affect the strength of
an electromagnet?

How does changing the number of coils affect the strength

of an electromagnet?

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 Effect of increasing the current
Increasing the number of cells, increases the current, and
the number of paperclips picked up by the electromagnet
also increases.
Number of paperclips

x The strength of the

x
x magnetic field increases
x as the current flowing
x
through the coil
x
x increases.
x
Current (amps)

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 Effect of increasing the number of coils
Increasing the number of turns on the coil, increases the
number of paperclips picked up by the electromagnet.
Number of paperclips

x
x The strength of the
x
x magnetic field increases
x as the number of turns
x on the coil increases.
x
x
Number of turns

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 Investigating electromagnets– results (2)
Compare the results for the number of drawing pins attracted
to the electromagnet with no core and an iron core:

number number
of cells 1 2 3 of cells 1 2 3
number number
of coils of coils
4 2 4 6 4 6 8 10
8 4 8 12 8 8 12 16
12 6 12 18 12 10 16 22
What effect does an iron core have on the strength of
an electromagnet?
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 Investigating electromagnets – results (3)
Compare the results for the number of drawing pins attracted
to the electromagnet with no core and a copper core:

number number
of cells 1 2 3 of cells 1 2 3
number number
of coils of coils
4 2 4 6 4 2 4 6
8 4 8 12 8 4 8 12
12 6 12 18 12 6 12 18
What effect does a copper core have on the strength of
an electromagnet?
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 Electromagnets – summary
There are three ways to make an electromagnet stronger.
What are they?
1. ____________________
More turns on the coil
More electrical current
2. ____________________
Using an iron core
3. ____________________ S N

What happens if the position of the battery in the

electromagnet circuit is reversed?
The poles on the coil also
reverse – north becomes
south and south becomes
north. N S

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 Contents

Electromagnetism

Magnets

Magnetic fields

Electromagnets

Summary activities

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 Glossary
 core – An object, usually made of iron, which is placed
inside the coil of an electromagnet and increases the
strength of the magnetic field.
 electromagnet – A coil of wire that produces a magnetic
field when a current is passed through it.
 hard magnetic material – A material that is hard to
magnetise but does not lose its magnetism easily.
 magnetic field – The invisible force field around a
magnet or electromagnet that will affect all magnetic objects
within that area.
 poles – The parts of a magnet where the magnetic field is
strongest.
 soft magnetic material – A material that is easy to
magnetise and also loses its magnetism easily.

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 Anagrams

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 Multiple-choice quiz

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