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Magnets attract magnetic materials by inducing magnetism in them.

Steel can become a permanent magnet iron cannot

Placing a piece of steel near a magnet makes it permanently magnetised, but its magnetism is usually
weak.

The magnet can be magnetized more strongly by stroking it with one end of a magnet

The best way of magnetizing is to place the steel bar in a long coil of wire and pass a large, direct
(one way) current through the coil. The coil has a magnetic effect which magnetizes the steel.

Inside materials there are these very tiny atomic magnets pointing and moving in all directions. As
the object gets more magnetized these tiny magnets all start aligning in one direction and making a
big magnet.

Iron nickel and cobalt-magnetic

Ferromagnets:

Steel alloys are harder to magnetize but are permanent-Hard magnetic

Iron, Relatively easy to magnetise, but magnetism is temporary. Used in electromagnets and
transformers.-Soft magnetic

The magnetic field is strongest where the field lines are closer together.

The Earth’s magnetic field is like that around a very large, but very weak, bar magnet.

Electromagnets:

When a current flows through the coil it produces a magnetic field. This field is temporary and is lost
when the current is switched off.

Strength increased by:

Increasing the current

Increasing number of turns

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Static electricity is all about charges which are not free to move.

As a result they build up in one place, resulting in a spark or shock when they do move.

The closer the charges, the greater the force between them.

Only electrons move, never the positive charges!

CONDUCTORS – allow electrons to pass through them. Metals have ‘free’ electrons between the
individual atoms, and this makes them excellent conductors. The free electrons also make them good
conductors of thermal energy (heat).

INSULATORS – electrons are held tightly to their atoms so are not free to move, and so do not
conduct electricity (but electrons can be transferred by rubbing – static charging).

SEMI-CONDUCTORS – neither an insulator or a conductor. Poor conductors when cold, but much
better conductors when warm. (Silicon)

Electricity is the flow of electrons around a circuit.

From small side of source to big side (negative to positive)

Electric current will only flow if there are charges which can move freely.

Current is measured using an ammeter. (Connected in series not parallel)

The total current flowing around the circuit is equal to the total of all the currents in the separate
branches.

Current is the rate of flow of electrons around a circuit. The higher the current, the faster the
electrons are travelling.

VOLTAGE is the amount of energy given to electrons as they travel around the circuit.

Voltage is also known as POTENTIAL DIFERENCE (PD)

1 volt = 1 joule of potential energy is given to each coulomb of charge (1J = 1 J/C)

Maximum PD is known as the electromotive force (EMF)

Voltage measured with voltmeter (placed in parallel)

the voltages around a series circuit always add up to equal the source voltage.

For metal conductors, resistanceincreases with temperature. For semi-conductors, it decreases with
temperature.

Resistance is directly proportional to length

Thicker wire less resistance

rho (ρ) is the resistivity constant

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Chemical energy is transformed into potential energy in the electrons, and in the bulb this is changed
into thermal (heat) energy.

Chemical energy is transformed into potential energy in the electrons, and in the bulb this is changed
into thermal (heat) energy.

If an electric current is passed through a wire, a weak magnetic field is produced. (plotting compass.)
field lines

Field features:

The magnetic field lines are circles.

The field is strongest closer to the wire.

Increasing the current increases the field strength.

Electromagnets are used in RELAYS. A relay is a device which uses a low current circuit to switch a
high current circuit on or off.

Electromagnets are used in CIRCUIT BREAKERS.

If current increases beyond set limit then the electromagnet pulls bolt towards itself, releasing the
push switch and breaking the circuit.

Microphone picks up sound wave and converts it to small changing voltage.

The amplifier amplifies this voltage.

Output from amplifier fed to recording head where changing magnetic field is produced.
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