- A large iron nail (about 3 inches)
- About 3 feet of THIN COATED copper wire
- A fresh D size battery
- Some paper clips or other small magnetic objects
- 1. Leave about 8 inches of wire loose at one end and wrap most of the rest of the wire around the nail. Try not to overlap the wires.
- 2. Cut the wire (if needed) so that there is about another 8 inches loose at the other end too.
- 3. Now remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach the one wire to one end of a battery and the other wire to the other end of the battery. See picture below. (It is best to tape the wires to the battery - be careful though, the wire could get very hot!)
- 4. Now you have an ELECTROMAGNET! Put the point of the nail near a few paper clips and it should pick them up!
- NOTE: Making an electromagnet uses up the battery somewhat quickly which is why the battery may get warm, so disconnect the wires when you are done exploring
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