Best way to make an electromagnet?

[azncoffeeboi]

Hey anandtechers! I have to bring an electromagnet to physics class tomorrow and I was wondering what is the best way to make an electomagnet.

The only way i know of is using nails + wire wrapped around it lots of times.

Anybody else have any other suggestions? What kind of wire and such? Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Thx in advance,

AznCoffeeBoi

 

[WhiteKnight]

That is a perfectly valid way of doing it. That's all motor coils really are, just wire wrapped around something.

 

[azncoffeeboi]

Hm... its a sort of a contest who can hold the most mass. Just the person with nails + lots of wire will win?

 

[WhiteKnight]

What kind of current will you be running at?

 

[FoBoT]

us the smallest wire you can find, to get the most turns on your nail/iron bar

 

[Kelvrick]

Of course thicker wire can make an overall stronger magnet, but less wires can create more current within itself because you can fit more loops into that space.

Try using something aside from nails, maybe some soft ferrite, low carbon steel material will do better. Also, make sure to get as many coils as perpendicular to the megnetic field as possible. Don't just wrap it, but get that 90 angle.

 

[Howard]

The best core material is pure iron (except for maybe Permendur). You probably can't get either of those in appreciable amounts, so go for the steel with the lowest iron content as the magnet core. Then wrap the core with the thinnest magnet wire possible (minimum gauge determined by the power supply - more power, thicker wire), and wrap many many times.

 

[Spencer278]

Would it help if he had more then one wire going to the terminals that way more power could flow with less resistance?

 

[azncoffeeboi]

Sorry about the uber late response, but my ride arrived as i was reading the thread.

About the Voltage, I am no idea... but it was high enough to get some other girls magnet hot in a couple seconds.


Anywho, just got done building my magnet. It is 4 large bolts surrounded by about 40 ft of insulated wire. I guess Ill tell you guys how it does tomorrow. I would post pics but i dont think you guys would care to see them.

Thx to everybody who helped!

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: azncoffeeboi
Sorry about the uber late response, but my ride arrived as i was reading the thread.

About the Voltage, I am no idea... but it was high enough to get some other girls magnet hot in a couple seconds.


Anywho, just got done building my magnet. It is 4 large bolts surrounded by about 40 ft of insulated wire. I guess Ill tell you guys how it does tomorrow. I would post pics but i dont think you guys would care to see them.

Thx to everybody who helped!

4? You want as much space on the inside of the coil filled by iron as possible.

 

[azncoffeeboi]

The bolts were pretty big (about 5 cm long and 3cm circumference). There was a 5x5x5cm size limit anyways.

 

[Analog]

use magnet wire, available at radio shack. It has a varnish insulation, so it is *much* thinner than plastic coated wire, and you can wrap a lot of turns around the core.