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Name:  kaycee
Status:  student
Age:  13
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
Would it be possible for electricity to alter magnetism?

Replies:
It is very easy for electricity to alter magnetism.

A very common example is an "electromagnet". Wind a long wire in a neat coil around any cylinder-shaped object. If you connect this coil to a power source, perhaps a 6-volt lantern battery, you will have yourself a magnet resulting from electric current. Just about every electric motor makes use of such a device.

Another example requires a magnetic compass. Set a battery-powered circuit such that one of its wires is directed east-west. While the circuit is turned on, move the compass near the east-west wire. You will see the compass no longer pointing toward the north.

Every electric current is surrounded by a magnetic field.

Kenneth Mellendorf


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