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World's First Electric Generator

submitted by Aard Vark

(oritteropo)
1 decade 1 year 11 months 3 weeks ago

This is a really nice demonstration, and explanation of, what happens when you drop a magnet down a conducting non-magnetic tube.

YouTube Description:

Huge thanks to the Royal Institution, Professor Frank James, and Katie Atmore for filming.
For the Sixty Symbols version of this experiment click http://bit.ly/RGfLY5

Michael Faraday created the first electric generator in 1831 using a coil of wire and a permanent magnet. When the magnet was moved relative to the coil, current was induced in the coil. A similar experiment can be performed with a copper tube and a magnet. Although copper is not magnetic, it is a conductor. As the magnet falls through the pipe, the magnetic field changes over different sections of the pipe. This induces swirling currents (called eddy currents), which create a magetic field that opposes the motion of the magnet. This means work must be done to move the magnet through the pipe. This work generates the electrical energy, which is then dissipated as thermal energy in the pipe. The same basic principle is used to generate electricity throughout the world: moving a magnet inside copper coils.

Experiments A Cappella http://bit.ly/TtdflV
Where Did The Earth Come From http://bit.ly/VQBzQJ
The Coastline Paradox http://bit.ly/TIapxM
Microwave Grape Plasma http://bit.ly/QkCwUt

Music by Kevin McLeod (http://www.incompetech.com) Sneaky Snitch and Danse Macabre

4 Comments

critical_d

says...

I dunno....witchcraft makes me awfully uncomfortable.

GeeSussFreeK

says...

After I saw this, I bought some rare earth magnets online and went down to home depot and picked up a simple copper pipe and have the same little fun experiment. Want I want to do is to get a circular track, and it with a ball magnet inside and let it slowly roll around and generate a bunch of heat just by the magnet falling.