Put the fun in physics with ferrofluid! Aside from making cool shapes when it interacts with a magnet, what else can we learn from ferrofluid? A video from an extensive physics playlist examines the similarities between the ferrofluid-magnet relationship, Earth's tides, and getting pulled into a black hole.

Concepts

magnetic attraction, magnetic force, magnets, the earth's magnetic field, tides, the moon, black holes, fluids, acceleration

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Get some ferrofluid for your lab and ask paired pupils to design a magnetism experiment around it
• After watching the video, have the class brainstorm other magnetic relationships they could visualize using ferrofluid
  

Classroom Considerations

• Learners should have an understanding of magnetic fields and gravity 

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Slow-motion camera work provides amazing views of ferrofluid approaching a magnet held at different distances below it
• Explanations in the video are clear and scripted appropriately for beginning physics students

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2