National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Wimshurst Machine 1880
In the modern world, virtually everyone is familiar with electricity as an accessible, essential form of energy. In electricity's earlier days, scientists used the buildup and release of static electricity.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: James Watt
The Scottish instrument maker and inventor James Watt had a tremendous impact on the shape of modern society. His improvements to the steam engine were a significant factor in the Industrial Revolution, and when the Watt engine was...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Pixii Machine
This "magneto-electric machine" was the first to turn motion into electricity. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: William Thomson, Lord Kelvin
William Thomson, known as Lord Kelvin, was one of the most eminent scientists of the nineteenth century and is best known today for inventing the international system of absolute temperature that bears his name. He made contributions to...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Nikola Tesla
Awarded more than 100 patents over the course of his lifetime, Nikola Tesla was a man of considerable genius and vision. He was reportedly born at exactly midnight during an electrical storm, an intriguing beginning for a man who would...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Dc Motor
Electric motors turn electricity into motion by exploiting electromagnetic induction.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Sulfur Globe 1660
In the 17th century, German scientist Otto von Guericke built and carried out experiments with a sulfur globe that produced static electricity.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Claude Shannon
Claude Shannon was a mathematician and electrical engineer whose work underlies modern information theory and helped instigate the digital revolution. He was the first person to recognize how Boolean algebra could be used to great...
Florida State University
Florida State University: Magnet Lab: What Is a Bus Room?
The MagLab's bus tunnel has an aluminum track, but it doesn't carry passengers: it carries electricity, up to 56 megawatts of it.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Capacitor
A capacitor is similar to a battery in that both store electrical energy. But a capacitor can't actually produce new electrons; it only stores them.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Barlow's Wheel
English mathematician Peter Barlow devised an instrument in 1822 that built on advances from earlier in the century (including the invention the battery) to create a very early kind of electric motor.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Felix Bloch (1905 1983)
Physicist Felix Bloch developed a non-destructive technique for precisely observing and measuring the magnetic properties of nuclear particles. He called his technique "nuclear induction," but nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) soon became...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Paul Lauterbur
Chemist Paul Lauterbur pioneered the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for medical imaging. He developed a technique, now known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in the early 1970s that involves the introduction of gradients in...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Zeeman Effect 1896
Most of us have seen the rainbow-hued breakdown of the composition of light. Light is of course a form of energy. A magnetic field changes the behavior of light- a phenomenon known as the Zeeman effect.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physics Simulation: Electric Motor
[Free Registration/Login Required] Learn how magnetic forces acting on current-carrying wires can be used to drive an electric motor using this interactive simulation. A PDF worksheet and a video tutorial are also available. [2:47]
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Electromagnets
This lesson plan contains several activities designed to help the student understand the magnetic effects of an electrical current.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Wheatstone Bridge 1843
Read about the device used for measuring resistance in a circuit which was discovered in 1843, but had been invented a decade earlier. The inventor's name was not Wheatstone.
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Mass and Speed of a Particle
Determine the mass and speed of a particle being fired through variable magnetic and electric fields. This problem is done after students determine the charge of an electron using the Millikan Oil Drop Experiment.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Alternating Current
Alternating current behaves differently, depending on what components are in a circuit.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Magnetic Suction
An experiment to find out how an old-style doorbell works.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Electricity
In this interactive activity, students will explore electricity and be able to design and create a complete electrical circuit. Students will also learn what is necessary to light a light bulb. Creative thought, ideas, and, brainstorming...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Whose Field Line Is It, Anyway?
Students teams each use a bar magnet, sheet of paper and iron shavings to reveal the field lines as they travel around a magnet. They repeat the activity with an electromagnet made by wrapping thin wire around a nail and connecting...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Walking Coins on a (Vertical!) 'High Wire'
Here is a project that is almost like a magic trick: with a strong magnet and a simple apparatus you can build yourself, you can make a coin "walk" up and down a wire coat hanger. This project is an interesting way to learn about the...
PBS
Pbs Kids:activities and Videos: Electricity
This PBS site offers videos and activities are hands-on challenges that focus on the engineering design process. They use simple materials, allow for multiple solutions, and are ideal for ages 9-12.