Magnet and electric current

Electric current can cause a magnetic field, which is how electromagnets work. Electric
current can also heat things, and cause chemical reactions, like in electrolysis.
Bar magnets
Before we look at electromagnets let's recap bar magnets.
Bar magnets are permanent magnets. This means that their magnetism is there all the time
and cannot be turned on or off. They have two poles:

Bar magnet
1. north pole (or north-seeking pole)
2. south pole (or south-seeking pole).
The north pole is normally shown as N and the south pole as S.
Magnets are made from magnetic materials. These are metals that can be magnetised or will
be attracted to a magnet. Most materials are not magnetic, but iron, cobalt and nickel are
magnetic.Steel is mostly iron, so steel is magnetic too.
Attract and repel
If you bring two bar magnets together, there are two things that can happen:
if you bring a north pole and a south pole together, they attract and the magnets may stick
together
if you bring two north poles together, or two south poles together, theyrepel and the magnets
push each other away.
We say that unlike poles attract, and like poles repel.
Testing for magnets
How can you test if a piece of metal is a magnet. Seeing if it sticks to a magnet is not a good
test, because unmagnetised iron, steel, cobalt and nickel objects will be attracted to either
pole of a magnet.
So you can't test for what it is attracted to. But you can test what it repels:
Keyfact:
You can only show that an object is a magnet if it repels a known magnet.
Magnetic fields
Before we look at electromagnets let's recap magnetic fields.
Magnets create magnetic fields. These cannot be seen.
They fill the space around a magnet where the magnetic forces work, where they can attract
or repel magnetic materials.
Finding magnetic fields

Field lines around a bar magnet
Although we cannot see magnetic fields, we can detect them using iron filings. The tiny
pieces of iron line up in a magnetic field.
Drawing magnetic field diagrams
It would be difficult to draw the results from the sort of experiment seen in the photograph, so
we draw simple magnetic field lines instead.

In the diagram, note that:
the field lines have arrows on them
the field lines come out of N and go into S
the field lines are more concentrated at the poles.
The magnetic field is strongest at the poles, where the field lines are most concentrated.
Electromagnets
When an electric current flows in a wire it creates a magnetic field around the wire.
By winding the wire into a coil we can strengthen the magnetic field. Electromagnets are
made from coils like this.
Making an electromagnet stronger
We can make an electromagnet stronger by doing these things:
wrapping the coil around an iron core
adding more turns to the coil
increasing the current flowing through the coil.

The magnetic field of an electromagnet
The magnetic field around an electromagnet is just the same as the one around a bar magnet.
It can, however, be reversed by turning the battery around.
Unlike bar magnets, which are permanent magnets, the magnetism of electromagnets can be
turned on and off just by closing or opening the switch.
Electric bell
Many objects around you contain electromagnets. They are found in electric motors and
loudspeakers. Very large and powerful electromagnets are used as lifting magnets in scrap
yards to pick up, then drop, old cars and other scrap iron and steel.
Electric bell
Electric bells like the ones used in most schools also contain an electromagnet.
1. When the current flows through the circuit, the electromagnet makes a magnetic field.
2. The electromagnet attracts the springy metal arm.
3. The arm hits the gong, which makes a sound.
4. The circuit is broken now the arm is out of position.
5. The electromagnet is turned off and the springy metal arm moves back.
6. The circuit is complete again.
The cycle repeats as long as the switch is closed. Check your understanding of this with the
animation.
Heating effect
Household wires and cables transfer electricity very efficiently. That means they dont lose
much of the energy as heat on the way. The electricity flows freely from the plug and is
transferred into other forms of energy in household appliances, like toasters, lights and CD
players.
Heating elements
The heating element in a toaster is made from a special wire different to wire in the power
cables. The wire in the heating element transfers lots of its electrical energy into thermal
energy and gets very hot. Exactly what you need to make toast or run an electric heater.
Energy efficiency
In most uses of electricity we don't want to produce heat. Any heat that is produced is wasted
energy. Appliances that transfer less of the electricity they use into wasted heat are
more energy efficient.
For example energy efficient light bulbs transfer less of their energy into heat. They also use
less energy than normal bulbs to produce the same amount of light. So the energy efficient
light bulb wastes less energy.
Electrolysis
Electrical energy can cause chemical reactions. This happens in a chemical process
called electrolysis.
Electrolysis of water
One use for electrolysis is to break down water (H
2
0) into hydrogen (H
2
) and oxygen (0
2
).

Electrolysis of water and sulfuric acid solution
1. Pieces of metal, called electrodes, are placed in the water.
2. A little sulphuric acid is added to the water to make the process work.
3. The electrodes are connected to a battery.
4. The water completes the circuit between the electrodes and current flows.
Where the electrodes come into contact with the water chemical changes take place,
producing bubbles of gas. Oxygen at one electrode and hydrogen at the other one.
This electrolysis produces twice as much hydrogen as oxygen. They are both useful gases
used in many chemical processes in industry.
What is an electromagnet?
An electromagnet is a magnet that runs on electricity. Unlike a permanent
magnet, the strength of an electromagnet can easily be changed by changing
the amount of electric current that flows through it. The poles of an
electromagnet can even be reversed by reversing the flow of electricity.
An electromagnet works because an electric current produces a magnetic
field. The magnetic field produced by an electric current forms circles
around the electric current, as shown in the diagram below:

If a wire carrying an electric current is formed into a series of loops, the
magnetic field can be concentrated within the loops. The magnetic field can
be strengthened even more by wrapping the wire around a core.
The atoms of certain materials, such as iron, nickel and cobalt, each behave
like tiny magnets. Normally, the atoms in something like a lump of iron
point in random directions and the individual magnetic fields tend to cancel
each other out. However, the magnetic field produced by the wire wrapped
around the core can force some of the atoms within the core to point in one
direction. All of their little magnetic fields add together, creating a stronger
magnetic field.
As the current flowing around the core increases, the number of aligned
atoms increases and the stronger the magnetic field becomes. At least, up to
a point. Sooner or later, all of the atoms that can be aligned will be aligned.
At this point, the magnet is said to be saturated and increasing the electric
current flowing around the core no longer affects the magnetization of the
core itself.