Demonstrating the Powerful Energy of the Mighty Magnet
Let your students SEE magnetic energy in motion!
It may sound like magic, but even the most miniscule magnet can create energy and movement. In fact, magnets can power everything from your doorbell, to a vacuum cleaner, to an industrial crane!
How? Well, remember that the molecules that form everything around us (including us!), are made of atoms…and inside atoms are positively-charged protons, neutrally-charged neutrons, and negatively-charged electrons. These electrons are spread throughout most objects, with some electrons spinning in one direction, and others spinning in the other direction (essentially cancelling out their natural magnetic fields). But in the atoms of magnets, the number of electrons spinning in one direction does not match the number spinning in the other direction. This disparity is what creates north and south poles and, therefore, a magnetic field. These poles attract and repel, pushing and pulling objects to or away from them, actually making the objects move.
If your students have trouble envisioning the power of the invisible magnetic field to create energy and movement, such as oscillations, you can bring the concept into focus with some simple demonstrations and investigations.
Kinetic Magnetics® Wave Wires® provides a clear demonstration of the power of a magnetic field to create oscillations, with all the materials you’ll need and step-by-step, NGSS-aligned instructions. The Wave Wires Magnet Set includes four wires with magnets on both ends and a magnetic base (and some other accessories and an activity booklet). Simply place the wires on the base, activate their magnets at the top, and watch the quirky ways they wiggle as the poles of all the magnets attract and repel one another. Perpetual motion is created as the magnets “bounce off” and gravitate toward one another.
The perfect, hands-on tool for demonstrating and exploring magnetic kinetic energy up close, the Wave Wires Magnet Station has all the parts and pieces you need to take your study even further. The tray at the top of the station allows for even more interaction with the oscillating magnets at the top of the wires, making additional experiments possible, including making iron filings dance, propelling steel balls inside the viewing tray, creating magnet painting (STEM), dangling oscillating magnet wires upside down, and more. A full-color, 40-page teacher’s guide includes lesson plans and photo-illustrated instructions that are so clear, your kids can follow along without you, mastering concepts including force and motion, structure and properties of matter, energy, waves, patterns, stability and change, and more! (And teachers, be sure to check out the Wave Wires Magnet Station Pack, with enough materials for 4 small groups in classroom labs!)
Bring the magical power of the invisible magnetic force to life with tangible experiments and demonstrations from Wave Wires!
Tags: kinetic energy , kinetic magnetics , Magnets in Motion , wave wires
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