What power source other than a battery can I use to make an electromagnet?
471818
Any power source you can get your hands on, but be careful.
734023
It sounds like you need a multi-meter which is handy for all your electric household needs. You can measure current with most of these and they can be found in hardware stores like Ace in most cases and possible even at places like Wal-Mart. They are not uncommon items. If you want you might be able to go online and search for a amp meter most likely from a physics teacher website. I'm sure your nearest hardware store will carry coil but if not, Radioshack is an option. Problem with Radioshack that I have had is too much money for too little quantity (this is in general and not specific to the coils) if you have time, you can browse the internet for teacher selling sites but you may have to pay for shipping which might also run up the cost. The magnets really depend on what scale you are talking about. Hobby Stores will definitely carry small craft magnets but if you need really strong magnets your best bet is once again a teacher website. I hope that I have been at least some use to you, and best of luck on your experiment/project.
465623
You need to run LOTS of current through a coiled wire. For a strong one I don't know, but you can make one big enough to deflect a compass like this:\n\nWind some stripped copper wire around a pencil to make a coil. Then connect a D cell battery to the wire. The important thing is that voltage doesn't matter, the stronger the current in the wire, the more powerful the wire.
425947
You need copper, and any sized battery. Then you need to do some playing around with it. Or you could just go here and do what they tell you.
822324
well, i cant really explain it, but you can use rubber band or a mousetrap to power the car. if u google "mousetrap car" or "rubber band powered car," you'll find diagrams and steps on how to make it.
130907
Most magnets are formed by moving electrons. Each moving electron creates a small magnetic field. If lots of electrons are moving along the same path, they create a bigger magnetic field. Because of this you can make a magnet by using electric current. If you wrap a coil of wire around a piece of iron (like a big nail) and then put electricity through it using a battery, you will create a magnetic field. This is what we call an "electromagnet." Remember, only use batteries if you try this, never use a wall outlet--this is much too dangerous!!
191596
Sounds like you're talking about a magnetic levitation train or maglev for short. This is not an easy project and you will likely have to fabricate the magnetic track and induction coils (still do some searching, but I don't know of anyone that carries model sized maglev material). I have included a couple of links for you to get started with. Good luck!
719437
I don't know what your interests are, but one experiment that I have done in the past is building an electric motor.  It's easy and does not require a lot of equipment.  I'll include the equipment list below.  If you are interested, send me an email and I will send you a picture of the setup.  That would be easier than explaining it here.\nEquipment required:\n1)Small stable platform, like a wooden board (maybe like 6 inches long and 4 inches wide, and perhaps like 1/2 inch thick).  Maybe a piece of cardboard would work as well.\n2)Magnet (something like 1 inch by 1 inch and 1/2 inch thick)\n3)Copper wire with a small diameter (something you would be able to wrap around your fingers)\n4)6-Volt battery (might be called a lantern battery). The shape of the battery is rectangular and the battery terminals look like little springs at the top of the battery.\n5)Two paper clips\n6)Two thumb tacks
438682
sure. go to a science store or look up schematics on the web.
353988
I heard of a way of producing an electric courant by heating on side of a PN jonction made of two different type of metal. \nI also saw a alcool lamp with a collier all around that was producing enough electricity for a radio, that was realy long time ago ( may be 60 years ), that collier was made with near an hundred piece of two metal in alternance, and each jonction was a thermal diode.
1072982
a)It is already a magnet. It can not become an electromagnet.\nb)Can not happen\nc)If this happens it will only be for a short period\nd)After a long time its power may be reduced but not lost completely\n\nSo I can not tell for sure. Mots likely c
336735
Heat can be compared to magnetism or gravity.  You need the movement or change of heat energy to generate electricity, just like you need movement or change of a magnetic field to generate electricity.\n\nYou can generate electricity from DIFFERENCES in heat energy levels (Seebeck effect)\n\n\nIf you're looking for a non-mechanical device, check out a Peltier junction.   This is an array of dissimilar metals (thermocouples) that will generate electricity as heat energy moves through it.   It is also a reciprocating device, meaning that if you put an electrical current through it, one side will get hot, and the other cool.  It is the technology used in portable electric travel coolers that you see these days.
448481
The concept is to build an electromagnet that cuts the circuit when energised. This produce a buzzing effect
105221
Well, the easiest way is to get some wire, wrap it around a iron/steel rod, and apply a current to the wire.\n\nTo get an electromagnet to have a lifting capacity that you specified, it will require a little more engineering work.  Trying to stay in the most basic terms, the power of your magnet will depend on how much current you put through the wire, how many turns you have around the iron rod, and something called the magnetic permeability of the iron rod.  Now there's some trade-offs with all of these factors.  More turns increases the magnet flux (strength), but requires more wire and increases the resistance.  More resistance means that you will need more current to counteract this problem.  Treating your electromagnet strictly as a resistor (which it is not), by following Ohm's law, you increase the current by increasing the voltage.   Too much current and you may end up melting your wire.   You want to keep the wire as small as possible so that you can get the turns as close as possible to your iron rod, but smaller wire has a higher resistance and lower current carrying capability.\n\nIt's a matter of balancing a lot of equations to get the best combination.  Your best bet is a little trial and error.
202402
A long straight coil of wire can be used to generate a nearly uniform magnetic field similar to that of a bar magnet. Such coils, called solenoids, have an enormous number of practical applications. The field can be greatly strengthened by the addition of an iron core. Such cores are typical in electromagnets. \n\nSolenoid Field from Ampere's Law:-\n\nTaking a rectangular path about which to evaluate Ampere's Law such that the length of the side parallel to the solenoid field is L gives a contribution BL inside the coil. The field is essentially perpendicular to the sides of the path, giving negligible contribution. If the end is taken so far from the coil that the field is negligible, then the length inside the coil is the dominant contribution.
321037
Almost all power plants use some heat source (coal, natural gas, nuclear pile, geothermal heat, concentrated sun rays) to generate steam. The steam turns turbines. The turbines turn generators.\nGenerators generate electricity which is where electromagnetism comes in. A simple model is this: when you move a magnet around a wire you see a current induced in the wire. Now a generator moves a whole bunch of coils of wire around magnets (or moves magnets inside lots of coils of wire) and thus uses electromagnetism to generate electricity.
307572
you can use any part of the elecromagnetic spectrum for for solar power as long as the material can absorb it and produce electricity. \n\na crystal radio ( or even a regular radio ) uses the radio waves ( not visible ) to create a tiny current in the radio that are converted to sound waves for our pleasure.  \n\nwhat part of the spectrum used depends entirely on your choice of material.