Introduction: Make a Temporary Magnet
I learned this from my dad when I was a little kid, but I searched instructables and found that no one has posted it, so here it is. I'm actually kind of shocked that no one has posted this yet.
I'd like to apologize for my last instructable to those of you saw it before I deleted it. Also to Tetranitrate, I'm sorry for posting an instructable similiar to yours and thank you for not "blowing up" over it, instead you chose to tell me how to create the iodine crystals. I admit that I forgot to search to see if there were any such instructable already made and was so proud of how well I had written it, that I immediately posted it.
Now onto this instructable. You can turn metal (as long as it is attracted to magnets) into a magnet for a temporary time. This is a neat little trick you can do at home or any other place. Teach your kids how to do this, so then they might be interested to learn more and may even some day grow up to become a mad scientist. This is also fun to try and see how strong you can make the temporary magnet. Hey, you could even use this in a science fair.
I'd like to apologize for my last instructable to those of you saw it before I deleted it. Also to Tetranitrate, I'm sorry for posting an instructable similiar to yours and thank you for not "blowing up" over it, instead you chose to tell me how to create the iodine crystals. I admit that I forgot to search to see if there were any such instructable already made and was so proud of how well I had written it, that I immediately posted it.
Now onto this instructable. You can turn metal (as long as it is attracted to magnets) into a magnet for a temporary time. This is a neat little trick you can do at home or any other place. Teach your kids how to do this, so then they might be interested to learn more and may even some day grow up to become a mad scientist. This is also fun to try and see how strong you can make the temporary magnet. Hey, you could even use this in a science fair.
Attachments
Step 1: Gather Your Materials...and Start Stroking
This technique is called stroking as I found out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnets (Look under: Magnetization of materials)
What you'll need is: a magnet, the object you wish to magnetize (I used a fork), and something to test it out with like small nails.
I used an old 6x8 speaker's magnet to do this, but you can use a fridge magnet all the same.
There is a movie below, but it is a large size so may take a while to download (depending upon your connection).
1. Pick up the object you wish to magnetize and hold it out length ways.
2. Pick up your magnet (unless you do it like me, then position your magnet in front of you) and put it on or under the object.
3. Now either move the obect back and forth like I did, or move the magnet. Do this quickly (works best if you do it for a while).
4. Now take your now magnetized object and try to pick up the nails (or whatever small metal object you have). If you did it correctly, you should have at least some attraction between the objects now.
Have fun and try different objects to magnetize to see which makes the best.
OK, now there's another video below. Mrmath was kind enough to point out that stroking is supposed to go in one direction. I'm not sure if it makes the temporary magnet stronger or not, but check the video out and express your opinions (Hard for me to say which is better, since I varied my speeds and times from each trial).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnets (Look under: Magnetization of materials)
What you'll need is: a magnet, the object you wish to magnetize (I used a fork), and something to test it out with like small nails.
I used an old 6x8 speaker's magnet to do this, but you can use a fridge magnet all the same.
There is a movie below, but it is a large size so may take a while to download (depending upon your connection).
1. Pick up the object you wish to magnetize and hold it out length ways.
2. Pick up your magnet (unless you do it like me, then position your magnet in front of you) and put it on or under the object.
3. Now either move the obect back and forth like I did, or move the magnet. Do this quickly (works best if you do it for a while).
4. Now take your now magnetized object and try to pick up the nails (or whatever small metal object you have). If you did it correctly, you should have at least some attraction between the objects now.
Have fun and try different objects to magnetize to see which makes the best.
OK, now there's another video below. Mrmath was kind enough to point out that stroking is supposed to go in one direction. I'm not sure if it makes the temporary magnet stronger or not, but check the video out and express your opinions (Hard for me to say which is better, since I varied my speeds and times from each trial).