Use the Force

Overview

Objectives/Goals How does the diameter, length, and material of a magnet affect its attraction? Methods/Materials 8 ceramic magnet 1"diameter x ¼" 4 ceramic magnet ½" diameter x ¼" 1 neodynium iron boron magnet ½" diameter x ⅛# 1 neodynium iron boron magnet 1" diameter x ¼" 1 brass screw 20 threads per inch particle board 4" x ½" x 8" 4" x ½" x 4" 1 steel ¼" diameter 1 aluminum plate 4" x 1" x ⅛# wood screws to assemble ¼" 20 thread iron filings 3 sheets of graph paper 1 sheet of cardboard saran wrap Results The length and diameter of the magnet can change the magnetic field lines and the material of the magnet can change the number of magnetic lines of flux. Conclusions/Discussion A way of comparing the magnetic field strength of different magnet types and sizes is to compare the attractive force with another magnetic object. This experiment used a steel ball and measured the distance between the magnet and the ball where the field applied a force greater than the weight of the ball and pulled the ball to the magnet. In this experiment I learned that some magnetic materials are stronger than others and neodymium iron boron magnets are much more powerful than ceramic magnets. The data in Figure 2 shows increasing either the diameter or the length of a magnet attracts the ball from further away which means the magnet has a stronger magnetic field. This agreed with my hypothesis. I thought increasing a magnet's length would keep increasing its magnetic attraction, but the data in Figure 2 showed this increase gets smaller as the magnet gets longer.

Competition history

• CSEF 2003 Physics & Astronomy · Entry J1514

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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