4.Main Content
experiments
Electromagnets: field pattern
Class experiment
Exploring the magnetic field pattern for a C-core.
Apparatus and materials
For each student group:
- Copper wire, PVC-covered, 150 cm with bare ends
- C-core, laminated iron
- Cardboard
- Iron filings
- Plotting compass
- Power supply, low-voltage ('Westminster pattern' very-low-voltage supplies are best)
Safety
Warn the class to keep fingers away from eyes. Iron filings inadvertently carried to the eyes can damage the cornea.
Read our standard health & safety guidance
Procedure
a Take an iron C-core, place a card on top, and sprinkle with iron filings. Is there any magnetic field pattern? Test with a plotting compass.
b Wind twenty turns of PVC-covered copper wire round one arm. Connect it to the DC terminals of the low-voltage power supply.
c Switch on, and investigate the magnetic field produced. Identify N and S poles.
Teaching notes
1 There is no field pattern around the C-cores until a current passes through the coil wrapped round the C-core.
2 A compass needle will indicate that the two ends of the C-core have opposite magnetic poles.
This experiment was safety-checked in July 2007