Home > Science Experiments > Magnetism - Experiment 1 - Magnets: How do heat, cold, jarring, and rubbing affect the magnetism of a nail?

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Experiment 1
Magnets: How do heat, cold, jarring, and rubbing affect the magnetism of a nail?

Purpose/Hypothesis

In this experiment, you will first test the effect of rubbing a bar magnet on a steel or iron nail. The bar magnet should align the domains in the iron so that the nail becomes magnetized. You will then measure the effect of four actions upon the nail's magnetic strength—heating, cooling, rubbing with a magnet in the opposite direction, and striking with a hammer. Each of the four actions will be tested on a different magnetized nail. Before you begin, make an educated guess about the outcome of this experiment based on your knowledge of magnetism. This educated guess, or prediction, is your hypothesisAn idea in the form of a statement that can be tested by observation and/or...

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1. Introduction
2. Magnetism is a matter of alignment
3. Electricity can also produce magnetism
4. Experiment 1 - Magnets: How do heat, cold, jarring, and rubbing affect the magnetism of a nail?
5. Experiment 2 - Electromagnets: Does the strength of an electromagnet increase with greater current?
6. Design Your Own Experiment