A student connects a battery to a wire and wraps the wire around an iron nail to produce an electromagnet. Which action should the student take to increase the number of paper clips the electromagnet can pick up.
A. He should add another battery
B. He should decrease the current through the wire
C. He should reduce the number of turns
D. He should replace the iron nail with a plastic spoon
To increase the number of paper clips the electromagnet can pick up, the student should strengthen the magnetic field produced by the wire wrapped around the iron nail. This can be achieved by increasing the number of wire turns around the nail or by increasing the current flowing through the wire. Among the provided options:
A. He should add another battery: This could potentially increase the voltage and, consequently, the current through the wire if connected appropriately, thus increasing the strength of the magnetic field and possibly allowing the electromagnet to pick up more paper clips.
B. He should decrease the current through the wire: Decreasing the current would weaken the magnetic field and is not the correct approach to picking up more paper clips.
C. He should reduce the number of turns: Reducing the number of turns would also decrease the strength of the magnetic field, making this option incorrect for increasing the pickup capacity of the electromagnet.
D. He should replace the iron nail with a plastic spoon: This would not produce an electromagnet because plastic is not a magnetic material. This option would actually disable the creation of a magnetic field altogether.
Therefore, the correct option to increase the number of paper clips the electromagnet can pick up is:
A. He should add another battery (assuming it is connected in such a way as to increase the current).