Science Experiments With Magnets
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Magnets All Around!
Interested in magnet experiments? Magnets are used in so many ways that it seems almost impossible to carry on with our modern life without them. Power stations use magnets to produce large amounts of electricity. Magnets are also used in compasses, loudspeakers, electric motors, refrigerator doors, cassette recorders, computer discs and other appliances.
There are magnets of different shapes and sizes. The most common shapes include - bars, horseshoes, rings, discs and cylinders. Bar magnets are mostly used in compasses, horseshoe magnets are used in small electric motors, and disc magnets are used in radio, television or stereo loudspeakers.
This page will focus on simple experiments with magnets.
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The Complete List of Science Experiments
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- Best Black Friday and Cyber Monday Offers
- The Complete List of Science Experiments
- How Interested in Magnets Are You?
- Science Experiments Series
- The First Known Magnets
- Need A Lodestone?
- Different Types Of Magnets
- Neodymium Magnets
- Amazing Magnet Toys #1 - Neocube 216pc Magnet Puzzle
- Amazing Magnet Toys #2 - Buzz Magnets
- Amazing Magnet Toys #3 - Magna-Tiles
- Best Magnetic Toys for Children and Adults
- What You Should Never Do With Magnets....
- A Recommended Read For Kids
- Best Of Magnetic Toys
- Experiments with Magnets #1 - How Strong Is Your Magnet?
- Experiments with Magnets #2 - Mapping A Magnetic Field
- The Cause of the Earth's Magnetic Field Solved!
- Even The Sun Has It!
- Experiments with Magnets #3 - Magnestism Passing Through
- Experiments with Magnets #4 - Magnetic Sailing Boats
- Magnetic Sailing Boats
- Experiments with Magnets #5 - Making A Magnetic Compass
- SciEd Magnetic Compass
- Finding North Using Your Watch
- Experiments with Magnets #6 - Magnetic Magic
- Magnetic Magic
- Zoomdoggle's Amazing BuckyBalls in action!
- Zoomdoggle Buckyballs
- Magnetic tricks
- Magnetic Wristband
- Experiments with Magnets #7 - Make Your Own Solenoid
- Solenoid Concert
- Experiments with Magnets #8 - Magnetic Levitation
- Levitating Globes
- Magnetic Levitation Video
- Magnetic Levitation Trains (Maglev Trains)
- Blog Posts On Maglev Transports
- Magnetism In Homing Pigeons
- Magnetic Play Books
- Best Of Magnetic Kits
- Interesting Projects
- Useful Links
- Love This Lens?
- Click Here For Best Of Magnets!
- Have Your Say!
Science Experiments Series
More Fun Experiments For You or Your Kids To Try!
Experiments With Magnets
Fun Experiments - Create Simple Science Models
Make Your Own Electric Motor
How To Make A Telegraph
Build Your Own Crane
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Interesting Science Links
Simply Awesome Facts
Perception Puzzles
Water experiments
Make A Rainbow
The First Known Magnets
Loadstones/Lodestones
The first known magnets were loadstones, which can pick up nails or other small iron or steel objects. In the pic you can see a loadstone attracting nails.
Today a powerful electromagnet, can lift huge loads of iron or steel scrap.
Learn more about Lodestones.
Some Useful Pages On Lodestones/Loadstones :
Kids science projects - magnets and lodestones
HowStuffWorks "Lodestones and Making Magnets"
Loadstone: Information from Answers.com
Video on Lodestone, Loadstone
Need A Lodestone?
Get The Best Ones Available!
Different Types Of Magnets
Magnets Of Different Shapes
Magnets are of different shapes. The main types are -
1. Bar magnets - They are placed near doors and are used as latches to keep the doors closed.
2. Horseshoe magnets - They create magnetic fields for small motors like those in toy cars.
3. Circular magnets - They are used in electronic computers to 'remember' numbers and instructions.
4. Disc magnets - They are used in radio speakers to help create sounds from electric impulses.
5. Cylindrical magnets - They are used in some machines to hold in place the object being worked on.
Neodymium Magnets
Amazing Magnet Toys #1 - Neocube 216pc Magnet Puzzle
Keep Away from Children - Age 14+
Now this little piece of toy is composed of 216 rare earth magnets which are really powerful! The result? You can create an astounding number of shapes and patterns with it! Even if it's a difficult to figure out at first, once you get to know how it's done the Neocube provides hours and hours of entertainment for you. It's not really meant for kids and is only suitable for ages 14+. Youngsters and adults will absolutely love this if they're into puzzles! Recommended!
Neocube 216pc Magnet Puzzle (Keep Away from Children - Age 14+)
Amazon Price: $25.95 (as of 02/17/2012)
Customer Reviews
"The first day was extremely frustrating. Took me over an hour just to make the cube. Finally got it and just kept doing it over and over until it became second nature." - Nicolas
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Amazing Magnet Toys #2 - Buzz Magnets
Watch Magnets in Action!
Toss these magnets into the air and watch them in action! They collide with each other for a while and then comes back to rest in your cupped hands. Buzz magnets are great for hand-eye coordination. Truly magical and one of the most popular magnet toys at Amazon!
Buzz Magnets
Amazon Price: $0.01 (as of 02/17/2012)
Customer Reviews
"My kids love these magnets... they all can use them pretty well. Although it can get kind of loud and annoying it also can teach them about magnets." - A Customer
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Amazing Magnet Toys #3 - Magna-Tiles
Great for youngsters!
This magnetic toy is just perfect for children because they are quite educational. It helps a child to develop his/her logical thinking and creativity. Magna tiles consist of a number of colored transparent tiles which are magnetic on all sides. These tiles can be used to build colorful structures (2D and 3D) and keep your child entertained for hours.
Magna-Tiles Translucent Colors 100 pieces
Amazon Price: $349.99 (as of 02/17/2012)
Customer Reviews
"I got home from work last night and my nanny and three kids were building a huge tower with the magna tiles. My nanny told me that they had played ALL DAY LONG with the magna tiles and that the kids built all sorts of things with them. I was thrilled! They were totally worth the money" - Hillary
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Best Magnetic Toys for Children and Adults
What You Should Never Do With Magnets....
2. Don't hit a magnet with a hammer or other hard objects. The shock destroys magnetism by rearranging the mini magnets in all directions.
3. Don't drop a magnet onto the floor. When the magnet hits the floor the mini-magnets will no longer line up and they'll lose their magnetism.
More
A Recommended Read For Kids
What Makes A Magnet?
Best Of Magnetic Toys
Magnetic Toys and Games for Kids
Experiments with Magnets #1 - How Strong Is Your Magnet?
Magnetic Strength Experiment
Some magnets are stronger than others, and the force of magnetism is always strongest at the poles of a magnet.You Will Need :
Several Magnets
About 20 metal paperclips
Instructions
1. Pick up one paperclip with a horseshoe magnet. Now put a second paperclip near the first one. It will cling on, because magnetism travels through the first paperclip and attracts the second one.
2. Add more paperclips one at a time to make a chain. How many paperclips can this magnet hold?
3. Try the same experiment with each magnet. Which is the strongest magnet? Are the biggest magnets also the strongest ones?
4. Now find out where the magnetism is strongest on one magnet. Start the chain of paperclips from three different parts of the same bar magnet. Start once with the north pole, once with the south pole, and once in the middle ofthe magnet. Where is the magnetism strongest?
5. Can you make a chain of paperclips from one pole of a magnet to the other pole?
Read more interesting articles :
How strong are magnets?
How Strong is Your Magnet?
HowStuffWorks "How strong are the magnets in an MRI machine?"
ThinkGeek :: Curiously Strong Magnets
Experiments with Magnets #2 - Mapping A Magnetic Field
Draw A Magnetic Field | Map A Magnetic Field
Although you can't see magnetism, you can make a map of a magnetic field which will help you to see where and how magnetism worksThings You Will Need
A large piece of paper
A pencil
A bar magnet
A small compass
Instructions
1. Place the magnet in the middle of a large piece of paper and draw round it in pencil to mark its position.
2. Put the compass near the magnet. Draw a short arrow next to the compass, showing the direction the needle is pointing.
3. Move the compass to another position. Draw another arrow showing the direction of the needle. Mark the compass and draw short arrows in about 20 places around the magnet.
4. The arrows on your map show curved lines that run from the north pole of the magnet to the south pole. The lines are drawn close together near the poles, where the magnetism is strongest. Away from the poles, where the magnetism is weaker, the lines are drawn further apart.
More Useful Pages :
Solar Magnetic Field Map
Magnetic Field Mapping
Magnetism and the Sun: Magnetic Fields
Magnetic fields and how to make them
The Cause of the Earth's Magnetic Field Solved!
An interesting video I found on YouTube...
Even The Sun Has It!
The Sun and its magnetic field
There's a huge magnetic field around the Sun. Glowing gases burst from the Sun's surface.
These gases help us to see the curved shapes of the Sun's magnetic field.
More Useful Pages on Sun's Magnetic Field:
The Magnetic Field of the Sun
The Sun Does a Flip
Solar winds triggered by magnetic fields
Astronomy.com - Sun-like star flips its magnetic field
Experiments with Magnets #3 - Magnestism Passing Through
Which materials can magnetism pass through?
Try an experiment to find out which materials magnetism can pass through.Things You Will Need
Some metal paperclips
A piece of paper
A piece of cloth
Some aluminium foil
A magnet
A glass jar
Several metal cans
Instructions
1. Put some paperclips inside a glass jar. Using a magnet on the outside of the jar, can you slide the paperclips up the inside? Yes, you can! Your magnet will attract the paperclips inside the jar, because magnetism passes through glass.
2. Now try the same experiment with a small metal can. If the can is made with magnetic metal, such as iron or steel, the magnet will attract the can but not the paperclips. The magnet will stick to the can, but the magnetism doesn't pass through the metal to the paperclips.
3. Try the experiment again with a can made of non-magnetic metal, such as aluminium. Magnetism passes through aluminium, so you can use the magnet to move the paperclips inside the can.
4. Try wrapping your magnet in different materials, such as paper, cloth or aluminium foil. Can you pick up paperclips with the wrapped magnet?
More Useful Pages :
What materials stop magnetism passing through
Will a magnet's magnetism go through solids, liquids, and gases?
Experiments with Magnets #4 - Magnetic Sailing Boats
Make magnetic boats
Magnetism can pass through water. You can make some model sailing boats and move them with magnets!Things You Will Need
16 drawing pins
Four sewing pins
A sheet of white paper
Some coloured pencils
String
A plastic tray
Two thick books
Four corks
Two strong bar magnets
Two wooden sticks, about 20 cm long
Instructions
1. Place the tray on top of the two books and carefully fill it up with water.
2. Tie a bar magnet to one end of each of the wooden sticks, using the string.
3. Ask an adult to cut each cork in half. Stick two drawing pins into the flat bottom of each cork.
4. To make the sails, draw four triangles on the paper. Colour these and then cut them out. Push a pin through each sail and stick a sail into each cork.
5. Place the boats in the water and move the magnets under the tray. Your boats can now sail.
More Useful Pages :
Scientific Kids Crafts: How to make make a magnetic boat
Magnetic Sailing Boats
Great Gift For Kids!
Experiments with Magnets #5 - Making A Magnetic Compass
Make A Compass
Things You Will NeedModelling clay
A watch
A felt-tipped pen
A long steel needle
A strong magnet
A drinking straw
A shallow bowl
Instructions
1. You can magnetize the needle by stroking it with one pole of the magnet. Always stroke the needle in the same direction, with the same pole of the magnet. Lift the magnet well away from the needle as you return to start another stroke.
You will have to do at least 10 strokes before the needle is magnetized. Test the new magnet by trying to pick up pins.
2. When the needle is magnetized, push it through the centre of a short piece of drinking straw. Plug each end of the straw with modelling clay.
3. Fill the shallow bowl with water, and place the drinking straw and needle on the water. The straw will float, and the needle will turn in the water until one end points to the north. Use a watch and the Sun to check which direction is north.
4. Make the rim of the bowl with the letters N, S, E and W to show the position of the four main points of the compass - North, South, East and West.
Read How Compasses Work.
More Interesting Pages :
History of the Compass
How to use a Compass
Compass tutorial
SciEd Magnetic Compass
Finding North Using Your Watch
You can use your watch to find north whenever the Sun is shining. Hold your watch level and point the smaller hour hand at the Sun. The north-south line is halfway between the hour hand and the number 12 on your watch. Stand with the place where the Sun rises on your right, and point a pencil in the north-south direction. You and the pencil are now pointing to the north.
Experiments with Magnets #6 - Magnetic Magic
Have you ever heard of the Indian rope trick? Magicians in India who perform this famous conjuring trick made a rope appear to stand upright from the ground with nothing holding it up.Other magicians can make objects, and even people, seem to float in the air with nothing holding them up. This is called levitation. We can use magnets to make things levitate, or levitation. We can use magnets to make things levitate or float in the air. Try it yourself with a simple experiment.
Things You Will Need
Cotton thread
A paperclip
Sticky tape
A sheet or paper
A strong magnet
Instructions
1. Tie one end of the cotton thread to a paper clip.
2. Tape the other end of the thread to a table, using sticky tape.
3. Can you make the thread stand up without letting the magnet touch the paperclip?
4. Pass a sheet of paper between the magnet and the paperclip to show that they are not touching.
More Related Pages :
Magnetic magic
Experiment with Magnet Magic
Homegrown Power: magnet magic
Magic Tricks with Magnets
Magnetic Magic
Learn More Tricks!
Zoomdoggle's Amazing BuckyBalls in action!
The New Magnetic Craze In Town!
Zoomdoggle Buckyballs
The Amazing Magnetic Toy That You Won't Be Able To Put Down!
Each set contains 216 powerful rare earth magnets that can be shaped, molded, torn apart and snapped together in UNLIMITED WAYS. Make sculptures, puzzles, patterns, shapes, stick stuff to the fridge, invent a new game-trying to find something more useful is useless.
P.S : Only suitable for children who are 13 plus.
Buckyballs - 216 Original Edition
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 02/17/2012)
Customer Review
"I have a set myself that I received as a gift. At first glance they don't seem very impressive...it's a bunch of silver balls in a jar. But then you dump them out and try to pull one off. They are incredibly strong, one ball has enough magnetic energy to hold the rest of the clump." - Sakamoto
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Magnetic tricks
Scientists have invented a clever way of showing how a superconductor works. If a powerful, lightweight magnet is moved towards a disc of superconducting material, the magnet will float just above the disc. As the magnet moves, it makes an electric current flow through the superconductor.
The superconductor has no electrical resistance, and so the current flows around and around without losing any energy. The current flowing around and around creates a magnetic field. This magnetism from the disc repels the magnet above. As the current flows through the disc, the magnet floats in mid-air above it.
More Interesting Pages On Magnetic Tricks
17 cool magnet tricks
The Magnetic Paper Clips - Magic Tricks For Kids - Activity TV
Easy Tricks: The Magnetic Pencil 2
Magnetic engineering - fun tricks with rare earth magnets
Magnetic Wristband
Get a 3rd helping hand!
Experiments with Magnets #7 - Make Your Own Solenoid
Part of an electromagnet is called a solenoid.
You can make a solenoid and see for yourself how a steel rod moves inside the coil when the electric current flows.Things You Will Need
Scissors
1 metre of plastic coated wire, with bare ends
Use sticky tape to keep the wire in place
A long steel sewing pin
A 4.5 volt battery
A drinking straw
Instructions
1. Cut a piece three centimetres long from the drinking straw. Wind the wire lots of times around the short piece of straw to make a solenoid. Always wind the wire in the same direction. Leave about 25 centimetres of wire free at each end.
2. Connect one end of the solenoid wire to one terminal of the battery.
3. Stand the pin upright on the table. With the other hand, place the solenoid over the pin. Hold the solenoid upright with the pin inside it.
4. Hold the free wire from the solenoid against the free battery terminal and the electric current will flow. As the current flows, the pin jumps up into the coil. It will stay there until the current is switched off.
5. Now change over the connections to the battery. Does the pin still jump up into the solenoid? Does it matter in which direction the electric current flows through the coil?
More Useful Pages :
What is solenoid?
Solenoid
Solenoids as Magnetic Field Sources
How Solenoid Valves Work - Video
Solenoid Concert
Music From Solenoids
Experiments with Magnets #8 - Magnetic Levitation
Magnetic Levitation Experiment
Here's a simple Magnetic Levitation experiment :Things You Will Need
Scissors
Stiff plain paper about 20 cm x 5 cm
Sticky tape
Two strong bar magnets
Instructions
1. Roll the paper into a tube shape and put sticky tape along the long edge. Cut a long, thin slot in the side of your tube. The tube should be a little wider than your bar magnets.
2. Place the two magnets inside the tube with the north poles of both magnets facing each other. You can see through the slot in the tube that the upper magnet is levitating. The like poles are repelling each other.
What happens when the two south poles are facing each other?
Know In Depth :
What is Magnetic Levitation?
Levitating Globes
Add something extra to your office and home decor!
Magnetic Levitation Video
Magnetic Levitation Trains (Maglev Trains)
The High Speed Ground Transportation Vehicle
Magnetic Levitation Trains are fast becoming a popular mode of transport in many parts of the world. Instead of the usual railway tracks, very powerful electromagnets are used which keeps the train levitated on this magnetic track called a guideway.
Maglev trains can be found in China, Japan, U.S, Germany and Korea -- to name a few. The Shanghai Maglev train is the first commercial high speed maglev line in the world!
Get to know more about Magnetic Levitation Trains.
Blog Posts On Maglev Transports
What's Buzzing In Blogger World
- Maglev assets headed to auction
- An industrial auctioneer said Monday it will sell at public auction on March 6 the assets of bankrupt Maglev Inc., whose idea for magnetically levitated trains never got off the ground. Auctioneer Harry Davis & Co. said Maglev's assets for public sale ...
- Maglev Kaput: Death of a boondoggle
- The meager assets of Maglev Inc. are scheduled to be sold at auction next month. And with it, yet another embarrassing chapter in American mass-transit boondoggles will be closed. The company that proposed building a $5.3 billion high-speed ...
- Speed is of the essence with rail services
- The Shanghai Maglev high-speed train pulls up at a station. Thailand is planning to develop a high-speed train to link Bangkok with other major provinces. China is among the potential system providers. SUPOJ WANCHAROEN In terms of political promises, ...
- No Maglev tech for Kochi Metro
- KOCHI: Kochi Metro will not incorporate the high-end Maglev technology, Mangu Singh, chief of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), told mediapersons in New Delhi on Tuesday. Since the technology was expensive and time consuming, it would follow the one ...
Magnetism In Homing Pigeons
Yes! Even a pigeon has magnetism inside its head and neck which allows the bird to navigate on cloudy days when it cannot see the Sun. This magnetic material hence acts as a kind of built in compass which helps them in finding their way.
If a tiny magnet is fixed to a pigeon's back, it cannot find its way. This may be because the extra magnet stops the pigeon's built in magnetism from working properly.
More Information :
Magnetoreception and its trigeminal mediation in the homing pigeon
It's all in the beak: scientists find secret of homing pigeon's magnetic maps
Magnetic Play Books
Some Of The Best Magnetic Play Books For Your Kids
Best Of Magnetic Kits
For Kids
Interesting Projects
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byUseful Links
Get To Know More About Magnets
- More Magnet Experiments and Info
- You get a load of information here plus some experiments that can be tried.
- Magnet Man - Cool Experiments with Magnets
- Experiments with magnets and electromagnets which can be built and demonstrated
- Childrens Science Experiment
- As you will see from these magnetic experiments, magnetism (the invisible force) can push and pull through some materials such as paper and plastic.
- Experiment with Magnet Magic
- Is your child struggling with the principles of magnetism? Here's a fun activity to demonstrate polarity and understand the basic principles of magnetism.
- Magnetic Dance Video
- Three dimensional pentagons (called pentagonal dipyramid) made from GEOMEGs attempt to find the magnet optimal state.
- What's in a Magnet?
- An interesting article by Robert McHenry.
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awesomedealz4u
Feb 9, 2012 @ 8:20 pm | delete
- Very cool lens!
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jimmyworldstar
Feb 5, 2012 @ 12:27 am | delete
- I used to enjoy playing with magnets, such as getting those that would stick to each other and trying to keep them at a distance where they'd gravitate to each other but wouldn't actually connect.
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Adrijan
Feb 4, 2012 @ 11:00 am | delete
- Great lens.
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LemonDrop4
Jan 30, 2012 @ 8:48 pm | delete
- Great information.
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VKumar
Jan 28, 2012 @ 12:18 pm | delete
- Very informative Lens. Great share.
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Learn how you can perform some simple Science experiments using magnets. more »
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