We experimented with different numbers of coils which was how many times the insulated wire was wrapped around the steel nail. The length of the coil obviously grew with more coils added. We kept the core material, which was steel, the same and the core diameter was always the same. Other people experimented with the core material, coil length and the core diameter. When experimenting we found that when we did more coils around the steel nail it became a more powerful electromagnet and of course the length of coil had to become longer as more coils were added.
Results Here is a section of our results which can be downloaded as a csv file.
If you would like to do this experiment yourself, here is a template for the results. Contributors James Axford, Sarah Bowes, Lisa Bradford, Graham Cannon, Giannina Capitani, James Clark, Catherine Collins, Daniel Cornwall, Lee Cozier, James Currie, Mathew Davies, Alice Dooley, Kim Durbin, Keith Gibson, Hannah Gledhill, Josh Lacey-Smith, Richard Muir, Ella Mulholland, Lucy Mullins, Jamie Murray, Charlotte Price, Claire Putt, Anna Salussolia, Purdy Stone, Chris Styles, Paul Swanton, Amy Visram. Last modified on Fri Nov 10 '95.