Wire Wrapping Creates Electromagnet

• This project will help you figure out if wrapping metal wire around a steel rod will generate a stronger current. You will need three steel rods to wrap different amounts of wire around. Wrap the center of the piece of wire around the rod 10 times, leaving both ends exposed to connect to other objects. Attach the ends to a 6-volt battery and dip the steel rod into a styrofoam cup, filled with 2 tbsp. of iron shavings. Observe how many iron shavings the rod picks up. Try wrapping the wire around the rod 50 times and observe how many shavings the rod picks up. Wrap the wire around the third steel rod 100 times. How does the amount of wire wrapped around the rod change the amount of iron shavings that it can pick up.
  
  

Is This Connected to That?

• In this project, you can make your own electric tester to see how electricity flows through different objects. A household lamp is a good item to start out with. To make the tester, you will need a simple buzzer with two exposed wires, a battery holder for two AA batteries, electrical tape and four alligator clips. Connect the buzzer to the battery holder by connecting the wires and wrapping them with electrical tape. When you have finished the tester, it will have two alligator clips that will make the buzzer sound when touched together or to a closed circuit. Unplug a household lamp and attach an alligator clip to each prong on the power cord. Turn the lamp on to make the buzzer sound. Remove the light bulb and observe what happens. You can use different types of bulbs to add variety to this experiment. Do not try this experiment or any other experiment that involves electrical outlets without being under direct supervision from a teacher or professional. Electrical outlets are very dangerous and serious injury can result from misuse.
  
  

Pencil Resistors

• This project tests if the length of a pencil resistor will affect the output of a circuit. You will need three wires will alligators clips at their ends, pencils sharpened at both ends, 9-volt bulb and holder and a 9-volt battery. Connect an end from two different wires on each tip of the pencil. Connect the other end of one of the wires connected to a pencil tip to a 9-volt light bulb holder. Connect the wire from the other tip of the pencil to one of the 9-volt battery terminals. Now, connect the battery to the light bulb holder with the third wire. When connected, observe the brightness of the light bulb. Experiment with different lengths of pencil to see if the light gets brighter or dimmer.
  
  

Which Materials Make the Best Conductors?

• There are two main types of electric material: insulators and conductors. With this project, you will use different materials for conductors to test their conductivity for the flow of electricity. Create a testing station complete with 6-volt light bulb/holder and a 6-volt battery by connecting each item with an alligator-clipped wire. Connect two more wires, one to the light bulb and one to the battery, which will both have an empty end. These two empty ends are where you will connect the conductor. Some examples of objects you can experiment with are a paper clip, a pencil, a book, the table, someone's glasses or any other object that the alligator clips can be attached to.