VIDEO: Construction of the electromagnet

Principle of the electromagnet

Like normal magnets, electromagnets generate magnetic fields, but they need electricity for this.

• Electromagnets are built on a coil (the entirety of the windings) in which a magnetic field is created as soon as electricity flows through it. Often times an open iron core can be found in the middle of the coil. This should provide a reinforcement, but at the same time specify the direction of the magnetic field.
• The strength of the magnet varies depending on how much current flows through the coil. In contrast to permanent magnets, you have the advantage that the strength can be varied or the magnet can even be switched off completely.
• If current is now introduced into the coil, the fields of the windings add up to a total field in that the elementary magnets - i.e. the individual parts of the magnet - all arrange themselves in the same way. So far these have been disordered and only in the new formation do they form a magnetic south or south. North Pole. This property is called "ferromagnetism". The new magnetic field runs around the winding cross-section (coil cross-section).
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• As a result of this structure, the highest concentration of the magnetic flux is greatest in the center of the coil; towards the outside it decreases more and more.


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More about the structure and use

• A distinction is also made between DC and AC magnets. While DC magnets have a constant, very high current consumption and long switching times, the current consumption of AC magnets depends on the armature position. In addition, AC magnets can switch very quickly, but their service life is significantly shorter.
• Probably the best known application of the electromagnet can be found in the junkyard. Huge cranes work there with huge electromagnets, which serve to distinguish magnetic from non-magnetic objects.
• But the special structure of the electromagnets is also used in other areas: Among other things, there is Magnetic couplings, pull magnets, push magnets, deflection magnets and magnetic filters, all of which benefit from being switched on and off to be able to.

Electromagnets are among the most powerful magnets there is. The most powerful electromagnet to date could have more than 2.5 million times the earth's magnetic field.