Strongest Electromagnet using 2 AA batteries
I am currently competing in a voluntary class contest to build the strongest electromagnet possible under these guidelines.
Objective: To construct an electromagnet that can pick up as much weight as possible.
Construction: Any construction may be used but the maximum power source is two (2) 1.5 volt batteries.
Competition: There are 2 segments to the competition:
1. Power: The greatest number of paper clips that can be transported from one bin to another in 20 seconds. Note: You may not touch the paper clips with your hand or any other apparatus.
2. Energy: The greatest number of paper clips that can be held at one time.
Score will be determined in each segment by the following formula:
Score = # Paper Clips (by mass
Any and all feedback is welcome. Please feel free to share any general tips, suggestions for materials or thoughts on the shape of the electromagnet. However, I do have some more specific questions. I understand these are not really electronics questions, but it does not hurt to ask. I will edit the answers into this thread after they are given for future readers.
1)Does wrapping a larger wire one layer thick have the same effect as wrapping many layers of a small wire to achieve the same thickness?
2)Can you ever wind too much wire into the electromagnet? Or to put it another way, is there any downside to winding more wire on?
3)What dictates the thinest gauge wire you can use? current? amperage? voltage?
4)What effects the strength of the magnetic force generated the most: the voltage, amperage or total current running through the wire? Another way to ask is, should I place the batteries in series or in parallel?
5)Would it be better to add a large capacitor, drain the batteries to it, then use it for the heavy lifting. I might have to wire this up with some switches because there is no time limit on the heavy lifting, but i cant waste time charging in the 20 second power round. I think 10-15 seconds of heavy lifting would be much more useful than 3 minutes of slow battery drain.
6)How dangerous is a large capacitor?
Thank you very much for the help
Edit: I just realized I missed a "t" in batteries in the title, unfortunately I cant change it.
I am currently competing in a voluntary class contest to build the strongest electromagnet possible under these guidelines.
Objective: To construct an electromagnet that can pick up as much weight as possible.
Construction: Any construction may be used but the maximum power source is two (2) 1.5 volt batteries.
Competition: There are 2 segments to the competition:
1. Power: The greatest number of paper clips that can be transported from one bin to another in 20 seconds. Note: You may not touch the paper clips with your hand or any other apparatus.
2. Energy: The greatest number of paper clips that can be held at one time.
Score will be determined in each segment by the following formula:
Score = # Paper Clips (by mass
Any and all feedback is welcome. Please feel free to share any general tips, suggestions for materials or thoughts on the shape of the electromagnet. However, I do have some more specific questions. I understand these are not really electronics questions, but it does not hurt to ask. I will edit the answers into this thread after they are given for future readers.
1)Does wrapping a larger wire one layer thick have the same effect as wrapping many layers of a small wire to achieve the same thickness?
2)Can you ever wind too much wire into the electromagnet? Or to put it another way, is there any downside to winding more wire on?
3)What dictates the thinest gauge wire you can use? current? amperage? voltage?
4)What effects the strength of the magnetic force generated the most: the voltage, amperage or total current running through the wire? Another way to ask is, should I place the batteries in series or in parallel?
5)Would it be better to add a large capacitor, drain the batteries to it, then use it for the heavy lifting. I might have to wire this up with some switches because there is no time limit on the heavy lifting, but i cant waste time charging in the 20 second power round. I think 10-15 seconds of heavy lifting would be much more useful than 3 minutes of slow battery drain.
6)How dangerous is a large capacitor?
Thank you very much for the help
Edit: I just realized I missed a "t" in batteries in the title, unfortunately I cant change it.
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