Electromagnetism is the most difficult thing teach. Why is electromagnetism hard to teach? Well, when you’re asking a ‘why’ question (obligatory Richard Feynman video)…
[Adam Smallcomb] might not be able to explain electromagnetism with perfect clarity, but he does have an idea to give students a hands-on feel for electrons and magnets. He’s building an Electromagnetic Teaching Aid that turns 30 gauge wire, springs, Lego, and bits of metal into a toolset for understanding magnets, solenoids, current, and magnetic fields.
The devices explained via [Adam]’s toolkit include a DC motor, stepper motor, speaker, solenoid, relay, transformer, microphone, and generator. That’s not to say [Adam] is building all these devices – a DC motor is just a generator in reverse, a relay is a solenoid with more electrical connections, and everything in this toolkit is basically just wire and magnets.
So far, [Adam] has a bunch of interesting applications for magnets, wire, and Lego including a DIY stepper motor and a nifty little tool that measures magnetic flux with a Hall effect sensor. Will it teach schoolkids electromagnetism? Very few things could, but at least this little toolkit will allow students to intuit electromagnetism a little better.
sewing machine bobbins are a great way to wind coils, they take a 1/4″ bolt and you can use the bobbin winder on the sewing machine.
Electromagnets. I thought for a minute you were going to launch into Div, Grad, Curl, and all that.
Those are the terms that broke me when I tried math at University.
Without understanding them, Maxwell’s equations become cryptic.
Excellent book still. Among the best explanations of what these tools MEAN, rather than the mechanics of how to do them. I degreed from a respectable school, but I am pretty sure that few of my peers, and few of my instructors, really understood the physical meaning of these tools, curl in particular.
Hey.. I just moved that book this week.. didn’t open it though.
Great job on the stepper!
I really like this prize entry; I can really see this inspiring ‘the kids’.
I’m really looking forward to seeing the commutator design. Aluminum foill? Copper wire wraped through the holes of “the disc with 6 holes”?
IO page bookmarked. :)
Relativity. Quantum electrodynamics. How to save for retirement.
After reading your article, I would say that spelling and grammar must be the most difficult things to teach.
You… you must be new here. :P