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Q:
what would happen to induced voltage if you used a bigger magnet
- peter wallace (age 14)
scotland glasgow
A:
Heya Peter:
As you already know, Electricity and Magnetism are related. Specifically, a constantly changing Magnetic field B (like
moving a magnets back and worth inside a coil of wire) will produce an Electic field E. This is called Faraday's Law.
(for
those mathmatically inclinded, the curl of E equals the negative time
derivative of B). This Electric field leads to a voltage in a wire
which produces a current.
If you use a bigger magnet, then you
have a larger Magnetic field and more voltage. However, you can also
move the magnet faster to get more Electric field. In commerical
generators, they use several large magnets which are fixed but have a
rapidly rotating coil of wire in the center. This allows these
generators to produce the electricity needed for many homes and
businesses.
Scott
(published on 10/22/2007)
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