How to Create a Magnet With a Wire & a Battery

A magnet is a lump of metal that can attract and repel other magnetic fields, and can also lift certain kinds of non-magnetized metal. An electromagnet is a type of artificial magnet that is made out of wire and a battery. Magnetism in nature is caused by the motion of tiny electrical currents inside the lumps of metal. However, magnetism in electromagnets is caused by the motion of a single much larger current through a coiled wire.

• 1

  Hold the magnet wire several inches from one end. Tape the wire to one end of the horseshoe at this spot, using the electrical tape. Wind the wire around the horseshoe from that end to the other, covering all the bare metal of the horseshoe. Tape the magnet wire to the other end of the horseshoe.

• 2

  Cut the coil of magnet wire off the spool, using the wire snippers. Cut it several inches from where it is taped to the horseshoe.

• 3

  Cover the coil of magnet wire with the electrical tape. This will prevent the wire from unwinding off of the horseshoe.

• 4

  Sand about one inch of the insulation off each of the ends of the coil's wire, using the emory board. Wrap these exposed wire ends onto the alligator clips, making sure that the wire touches the clip in several places. Tape the wires to the clips with the electrical tape.

• 5

  Attach the coil to the battery by clipping the alligator clips to the battery's terminals. It does not matter which terminal is connected to which end of the coil. The coil of wire, horseshoe, and battery are now generating a magnetic field.