Students investigate the interaction between electric and magnetic fields by building magnetic cars to race. Each student selects one battery and two equal-sized disc magnets. The students place one magnet on each end of the battery with the north pole of each magnet pointing outward.
Next, they place a magnet car on a copper coil track.
When the battery is placed on the track with both magnets touching the coils, it produces a closed circuit between the two magnets and a current flows. As the current flows through the conductive copper wire, a magnetic field is created around the wire, making an electromagnet. This magnetic field of the electromagnet interacts with the magnetic field created by the magnets in a way that repels the magnet on one end and attracts the magnet on the other. This pushes the battery along the coil.
The students timed how fast the cars moved a distance of 66 centimeters down the copper coil track. After the magnetic cars moved along the coil, the students noticed that the batteries were warm to the touch.
The data table below shows information about the two magnetic cars.
Question 1
1.
When a battery produces electricity, a chemical reaction occurs. Which piece of evidence supports this claim?
Question 2
2.
Choose the word or phrase in each set of options to explain what happens to the mass of a battery during the chemical reaction.
The mass of the battery will __________ because
__________.
Question 3
3.
Use the information from the passage and circle a word in each set of options to describe the types of energy the magnetic car has when it begins to move along the copper track.
When the magnetic car begins to move along the copper track, its kinetic energy __________ and the thermal energy in the magnetic car__________.
Question 4
4.
Which three parts of the magnetic car system affect the strength of the electromagnet?
Question 5
5.
One of the students' magnetic car setups had a faster time. Explain what could have caused Car 2 to have a faster time than Car 1.
Question 6
6.
Another way the magnetic car and track can be set up is with the car inside the copper coil. Students place one magnetic car inside a stretched coil and another magnetic car inside a
larger coil, as shown in the drawing below.
Choose the word or phrase in each set of options to predict the effects of using a stretched coil and a larger coil with the magnetic cars compared to the speed of the magnetic cars on top of the coil track.
Stretched coil: The speed of the magnetic car will __________.
Larger coil: The speed of the magnetic car will __________.
Question 7
7.
To build on their investigation, the students wanted to observe how changing the length of the track would affect the temperature of the battery being used.
Part A: Choose the phrase in each set of options to identify the variables for this new investigation.