Electromagnetic Induction Lab 10

Holly Shankin

Introduction-

We will be conducting this lab to understand induced magnetic forces and voltages, see how transforms
work and their core principles, and to learn more about solenoids.

Data

Part 1

Brighter/higher magnitude Dimmer/lower magnitude

Magnet Orientation Switch Causes
Faster Slower Voltage sign to switch
More solenoid loops Fewer solenoid loops

Questions-

Question 1. What happens to the sign of the voltage when you reverse the orientation of the permanent
magnet?

When the sign of the orientation of the permanent magnet is reversed, the voltage is reversed.

Question 2. How does changing the number of loops change the amount of current induced in the coil?

The more loops there are in the solenoid the strong the induced current is.

Question 3. Why don’t you get a deflection when you leave the permanent magnet stationary inside the
solenoid?

Then the magnetic current isn’t moving and won’t induce a moving current.

Is there voltage induced in the secondary when the primary is sitting stationary? Is this
Question 4.
consistent with your earlier observations with the stationary permanent magnet?

There is no voltage induced when the secondary is sitting stationary, this is the same conclusion that
we came to in part 1.

What do you think is going on to cause the change in voltage in the secondary when you
Question 5.
move the coils apart? Why is this affect reversed by increasing the loop area? (Hint: look up magnetic
flux in your text and identify its role in Equation 1).

The change in voltage in the secondary is caused when you move the two coils apart is because there
is a dependence on the distance the coil is from the source of the magnetic field. By increasing the
loop area more of the loop is able to “catch” the flux which impacts the emf and reversed the effects
of the distancing.
Question 6.You may have heard that you should unplug your phone charger when not in use to save
electricity. Why is this? (What is a phone charger?)

A phone charger is a small transformer, it is beneficial to unplug your charger when you are not using
it because even when the charger is not plugged into your phone it is still taking the voltage and using
it even though it is not going anywhere.

Question 7. Transformers are simply a pair of coils like those we see in this experiment. They’re used to
transform a source voltage to a different more desirable voltage. Real transformers usually have an
iron core inside them that focuses the magnetic field in order to increase the magnetic flux passing
through the secondary. What advantages would be provided by the iron core and the increased flux?

With an iron core and increased flux, a lot more of the voltage would be transformed and the induced
magnetic flow would be much larger, and less energy would be lost.

Conclusion

In conclusion induced currents come from the change in magnetic fields. In general, the closer the
moving field is to the secondary coil (or thing carrying the induced current), or the larger the secondary
coil is the stronger induced currents. This conclusion is what we expected from the previous knowledge
and equations had, it is reproducible as every observation I made, I repeated multiple times. I would
suggest repeating this experiment with another application or simulation to see if this one has any
inaccuracies.