The Pico Magnetic Induction Kit provides a simple and effective method
for students to investigate the concept of Faraday's laws of
electromagnetic induction. A small bar magnet is dropped down the tube
and, as it passes through the coil, an electromagnetic field (emf) is
induced. The output pulse can be viewed using a Pico
PC oscilloscope, a
DrDaq data logger or most other
types of digital storage oscilloscopes.
The Magnetic Induction Kit
can be used to demonstrate electromagnetic induction, the direction of
induced currents and variation of the size of induced emf with
velocity. It can also be used as a student-based investigation, either
with full instructions or as an open investigation where the students
research the concepts.
A suitable experiment for the kit can be viewed online at the
Pico library
of science experiments
A copy of the
instructions are available for downloading in PDF format.
Michael Faraday
English scientist Michael Faraday's scientific work laid the
foundations of all subsequent electro-technology. From his
experiments came devices which led directly to the modern electric
motor, generator and transformer. Faraday was also the greatest
scientific lecturer of his day, and did much to publicise the great
advances of nineteenth-century science and technology through his
articles, correspondence and the Friday evening discourses which he
established at the Royal Institution. The Royal Institution
Christmas lectures for children, begun by Faraday, continue to this
day.
On 29th August 1831, using his "induction ring", Faraday made one
of his greatest discoveries - electromagnetic induction: the
"induction" or generation of electricity in a wire by means of the
electromagnetic effect of a current in another wire. The induction
ring was the first electric transformer. In a second series of
experiments in September he discovered magneto-electric induction:
the production of a steady electric current. To do this, Faraday
attached two wires through a sliding contact to a copper disc. By
rotating the disc between the poles of a horseshoe magnetic he
obtained a continuous direct current. This was the first generator.
Faraday's laws of electromagnetic induction state:
- A changing magnetic field induces an electromagnetic force in
a conductor.
- The electromagnetic force is proportional to the rate of
change of the field.
- The direction of the induced electromagnetic force depends on
the orientation of the field.
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