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CraftyDad
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I hope that the title is a bit better than my last one...
I would appreciate any input on items I have made or will be demonstrating as it should be about 30 minutes long and a balanced programme.
Background... I am in training as an Assistant Beaver Leader in my Sons Beaver cubs scout pack and one of the badges that they are doing asks for a demonstration of something mechanical or something that uses magnets.
Keep in mind that beaver scouts are 5yr 9months to the age of 8 years, so we have very inquisitive minds here and likely very difficult questions to answer.
What I have devised are a number of demonstrations that I hope to get the Beavers engaged in, however, I have a some safety concerns, see end of lists. So a bit of guidance on this would be appreciated as well as any comments that add to or enhance on the demonstration will be welcomed as I have a 30 minute slot, 20 minutes demo and 10 minutes discovery.
I have listed the demonstrations as follows (in no particular order.)
The Demonstration
Now my concerns...
The wires get hot, as to the batteries, can I do anything to limit or stop this?
The power source for most of the demos is a 4 x 1.2 ~ 1.4v 2000 mAh cell in series so the output is almost 5 Volts and other batteries wil be single cells of 1.2 ~ 1.5 volt.
would I be correct that the wires are getting hot and cells getting hot because the total amperage is 8 Amps in the 4 Cell experiments? What are the risks? Could one of the cells explode or wires catching fire, etc?
Any suggestion are welcome.
I would appreciate any input on items I have made or will be demonstrating as it should be about 30 minutes long and a balanced programme.
Background... I am in training as an Assistant Beaver Leader in my Sons Beaver cubs scout pack and one of the badges that they are doing asks for a demonstration of something mechanical or something that uses magnets.
Keep in mind that beaver scouts are 5yr 9months to the age of 8 years, so we have very inquisitive minds here and likely very difficult questions to answer.
What I have devised are a number of demonstrations that I hope to get the Beavers engaged in, however, I have a some safety concerns, see end of lists. So a bit of guidance on this would be appreciated as well as any comments that add to or enhance on the demonstration will be welcomed as I have a 30 minute slot, 20 minutes demo and 10 minutes discovery.
I have listed the demonstrations as follows (in no particular order.)
- Ask if anyone knows what magnetism is.
- Discuss magnets, magnetism and uses.
- Demonstrate Magnets and Magnetism.
- Discovery and investigation.
The Demonstration
- Electromagnets, I used standard 13amp (Power) and 3amp (Lighting) cable to make a couple of electromagnets, the 13 Amp is a 5cm long single layer 20 turn magnet, the 3Amp cable is a 3 layer 15 turns per layer and this is to demonstrate the strength of the electro magnet based on number of turns and the input voltage is just under 5 volts via 4 rechargable 2000mAh batteries.
- Solenoid, I used 3Amp cable in the same configuration as the electro magnet wound around a cylinder former. Input voltage is under 5 Volts with 2000 mAh rechargables. This is to demonstrate linear motion / pull through an electromagnet.
- Use a piece of formed copper wire and couple of N42's and a 1.5 volt Alkaline battery to make a crude motor to demonstrate circular motion
- Demonstrate that a compass aligns to a magnetic field or is influenced by an external magnet or a charge through a wire.
- Lenz's Law, the pretty cool and I can't help myself with this one, dropping a neodymium magnet down a copper pipe, and it doesn't get old demo... this one I plan on dropping a metal screw, an aluminium piece of metal through before showing that the copper pipe is not magnetic and then dropping the magnet down it after a little bet on how long it will take to drop, so far the best time is 8 seconds with 3x N42's (10mm dia x 3mm)
- Show that a copper tube is like a wire and a current can be induced via a magnet, my electric meter is not sensitive enough but I can sometimes register 0.03 mV with the N42's
- Iron filings used to show the invisible lines of (is it force or energy?) between the poles of a magnet. (Alnico magnet not N42's)
- Use a compass to plot the lines of force on a piece of paper
- Show a video of how magnets are made
- Let the Beavers try the Lenz's Law demo themselves.
- Metal sorting, use a magnet (Alnico educational magnet) to sort a variety of metals that are magnetic and non magnetic.
Now my concerns...
The wires get hot, as to the batteries, can I do anything to limit or stop this?
The power source for most of the demos is a 4 x 1.2 ~ 1.4v 2000 mAh cell in series so the output is almost 5 Volts and other batteries wil be single cells of 1.2 ~ 1.5 volt.
would I be correct that the wires are getting hot and cells getting hot because the total amperage is 8 Amps in the 4 Cell experiments? What are the risks? Could one of the cells explode or wires catching fire, etc?
Any suggestion are welcome.
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