How to Make a Magnetic

Generator
BY: PROF. KHALID ISSA
Background/Abstract

 You may think of a car immediately when you think of a motor, but you actually
encounter other motors every day in your home. That's right, you used an electric
motor if you put on clean clothes from the washing machine, ate food from the
refrigerator or used a fan. In this science fair project on electric motors, you'll
create a simple electric motor with two magnets that interact with each other. They
will alternate as they interact between attraction (pulling together), and repulsion
(pushing away from each other). All that pushing and pulling creates some serious
spinning and that's a motor, a spinning axle. An electric motor creates motion
using the attracting and repelling properties of the magnets. An electric motor
contains two magnets; a permanent magnet (also called a fixed or static magnet)
and a temporary magnet. The electromagnet is also called the temporary magnet. A
permanent magnet is surrounded all the time by a magnetic field (a north pole and
a south pole) (thus the term "permanent"), but the electromagnet creates a
magnetic field (a north pole and a south pole) only when electric current flows
through a wire (thus "temporary"). The strength of the magnetic field of the
electromagnet can be amplified by increasing the current through the wire or by
forming the wire into a coil.
Variables

 Independent Variable: Number of magnets.

 Dependent Variable: Rate or speed of revolutions of electromagnetic coil.
 Control: Number of magnets(1)&(0)
 Null Hypothesis: Magnet configuration will
have no effect on generated electricity.

Hypotheses
Experimental Hypothesis: An increase in
the amount of magnets will directly
correlate to an increase in generated
electricity.
  Plastic tube, 1½ inch (4 cm) (1)
 Magnet wire, enamel-coated (1 spool)
 Cardboard box, approximately 7–8 inches
wide
 Paper clips, small (2)
 Iron cores, soft (2)
 Sandpaper, fine-grit
 Wood block, pre-drilled
 Red plastic plates for rotors (2)
 Short screws (4)
 Ruler or measuring tape
 Scissors
 Corrugated cardboard (2), 14 x 2 inches
(36 x 5  cm); corrugations should run parallel
to the short side.
 Tape; masking tape, 1 inch
 Tape; electrical tape, 1/2 inch
 Screwdriver, Phillips
 Sheets of paper (2)
 Table with sharp 90 degree edge; table edge
should be no more than 1 1/2  inches (4 cm)

Materials
thick.
 Bolt, long (1)
 Small disposable cup or tiny bucket with
 Hex nuts (3) handle

 Neodymium magnets (6), 1/4 inch (0.6 cm)  Optional: 1-hole puncher

diameter
 String (40 inches [1 meter]); plastic twine
 Compasses (2) also works well.

 LED (light-emitting diode) (1)  Nickels or quarters (18) or pennies (36)

 Nails (2)  Lab notebook

 Iron filings  Optional: Camera

 Medium screws (2)

Procedures

 First Build the electromagnet by creating a coil of copper wire(must

have enamel coating) remove half of the coating on one side and all of it
on the other.
 Then set up the battery with paperclips on both sides attach them with
tape.
 Place the coil between both paperclips and support it on the axles.
 You now have an electromagnet, add neodymium magnets under that on
top of the battery and give the coil a push it will start spinning.
 Record the number of revolutions in a 30 second time frame.
 Increase the number of magnets and repeat.
Number Of Magnets RP30S(Revolutions per
30 seconds)
0 0
1 42
2
3
73
133ish
Data:
4 161ish
  Conclusions that can be made from the
performance and observation of this experiment are
that a direct relationship can be seen between the
speed or rate of revolutions of an electromagnetic
Conclusion: coil and the amount of magnets it is interacting
with. An increase in the amount of magnets resulted
in an increase in revolution rate or the
electromagnetic coil. The null hypothesis was
rejcted.