Melissa and Cassidy built the electromagnet. They coil a copper wire around a bolt and connect the wire to both ends of a battery. When they tested it, it could pick up 3 paper clips. Their teacher challenged all groups to pick up a minimum of ten paper clips. What could they do to increase the number of paper clips their electromagnet picks up?

Question

Melissa and Cassidy built the electromagnet. They coil a copper wire around a bolt and connect the wire to both ends of a battery. When they tested it, it could pick up 3 paper clips. Their teacher challenged all groups to pick up a minimum of ten paper clips. What could they do to increase the number of paper clips their electromagnet picks up?

Increase the number of loops of wire around the nail
Make the wire longer
Remove the nail from the center of the wire
Spread the loops of wire apart on the nail so they do not touch

Answer 1

All of the options provided could potentially increase the number of paper clips the electromagnet can pick up. However, the most effective option would be to increase the number of loops of the wire around the bolt. This would increase the number of turns in the coil, which strengthens the electromagnetic field and can attract more paper clips.