Museum of Science
Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Build an Electric Motor
Step-by-step illustrated instructions show how to build a simple electric motor using everyday materials to make a wire coil spin. An explanation of the science involved is given at the end, as well as tips on troubleshooting any...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Magnetism
For this physical science lab, students will investigate ways to control an electromagnet, how adding coils of wire can change the magnet, and the differences between an electromagnet and a bar magnet. Students will explain in their...
Creative Science Centre
Creative Science Centre: Notes on Coil Magnet Orientation and Rotation
An electrical generator is in essence a very simple device - magnets rotating within a coil of wire. To get a generator to work properly, one needs to make sure the coil and magnet orientation and rotation are correctly aligned. These...
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Magnetic Induction Lab
This lab was designed to have students test the things that can induce a current in a coil of wires. This lab is a purely quantitative lab.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Electromagnet
Easy-to-read information and an illustration of an "electromagnet," a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is induced by the flow of an electric current.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Cup Speaker
This activity will have students creating their own speaker with a paper cup, coil of wire, and magnet. The speaker operates by changing electric current into sound.
Creative Science Centre
Creative Science Centre: 6 Generators
Apart from the piezo generator, all of these generators are based on the same simple design, where magnets are rotated near to coils of wire (Faraday Induction). There is no coil switching so these are AC generators. On magnet movement,...
Creative Science Centre
Creative Science Centre: Perhaps the Simplest Homemade Generator in the World
This very simple, but effective generator shows in a wonderfully engaging way the fundamentals of electricity generation. The generator is made from a coil of wire wound around the outside of a plastic 35mm-film can. The two coil ends...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Electromagnetic Induction Demonstration
Students learn the relationship between the electric and magnetic fields. Specifically, they verify that a magnetic field is created in a current carrying coil of wire and a changing magnetic field can induce a current in another coil of...