I have a power source of either an actual car battery of around 600 Cold Cranking Amps OR a power supply which is rated to be equal to that of a car battery [it's used to power devices that would normally be connected to a cigarette lighter adapter inside of a car]
What I really am asking is a few very basic question about the design.
What kind of core metal material would be best from both a safety and performance standpoint?
Should I measure and adjust the amp's or simply go with what I have.?
What would be an appropriate amount of amps to test with? Something that wouldn't kill me via the amps or the heat created?
How many turns?
Should the metal core be straight like a nail or should I curve it around in the shape of a U or even a Teardrop?
If curved around, should I connect the power to both the ends and the curved portion or are the various images of this I have seen just exaggerating the design?
I'm trying to learn some concepts regarding electro magnetism.
Just make sure you use enough turns so that the resistance is high enough to prevent a huge current. e.g., use an ohm meter to measure the resistance and plug it into ohms law. I = V/R. If V = 12 and R = 1 Ohm then I = 12A. The power dissipation in the wire will be 144W. This is enough to get warm and then hot pretty quick.
(note that 1 ohm is a lot of wire if it is thick. I wouldn't draw mess with anything over 30 amps(R about 1/3 Ohm) to start with... if that(you can get a decent magnet to play around with with just a few amps))
Most of all use your brain and think about what you are trying to do and what is going on.
On Sun, 5 Oct 2008 12:24:24 -0500, "Jon Slaughter" sayd the following:
With all of what you said in mind, wouldn't my use of a car battery be very dangerous to me?
Also that power supply which is 12 volts puts out about 12-15 amps. With that being the case I would assume it would be safe?
And you're also saying that as long as I use a ton of windings that I should be relatively safe as far as heat and melt down is concerned?
Trust me, I don't want to burn myself or catch something on fire..
I need some baby steps. I hope to make the magnet bigger but with safety as a goal too.
I would be concerned with damage to media, like my hard drive platters. So should I do this far away from the computer or is there some kind of shielding I could make or buy for the computer and other recorded media?
No.. unless you short the battery and it overheats and explodes. 12V is not enough voltage to cause shock. You can walk up to a battery and grab both ends... even wet... but if you drop a wrench across the terminals it will either melt or possibly explode(from the hydrogen given off and the heat).
You need to learn ohms law, V = I*R. Know any 2 and you can solve the other. For a car battery of about 12V or your power supply and with, say, R = 1 Ohm, I = 12/1 = 12A. It doesn't matter which type of supply it is except that the power supply *might* be safer since it probably will have over current protection or smoke before it reaches the output capacity of a battery.
So if you have the power supply then you can use it and it's probably the best option unless you need more current.
Baby steps is fine... but you also have to learn to think for yourself. Recheck and triple check connections but don't let fear prevent you from progress. Although if you don't have any knowledge of electricity it can be dangerous.
Two things can cause damage and in some sense they are identical(or at least related). They are voltage and current. Almost everything you need to know is summed up in ohms law: V = I*R. Read about it on the web.
V is dangerous when whatever is producing it can also sustain a large current. Such as with a car battery. 12V is not enough to shock you but is enough to make the battery explode if it's terminals are shorted(I = 12/~0 = very large and dangerous current that can burn and cause fire or explosions(in the proper context))
100M volts can shock the hell out of you but in some cases can't cause any real damage. Static electricity is an example of this but power lines is a counter example.
Just be careful not to short the battery or power supply(although it might be more forgiving) an you will be ok. If you are not sure then just be ready to pull the wire off the connector as fast as possible... in fact you should first only quickly tap the wire to the terminal and see if it sparks... if it does you can get an idea how much current you are pulling.
In fact it's best to have something that can measure the current or to have a power supply that can display it.
No. Don't worry about it. It's not all that dangerous as you think... just be cautious and check for things being warm and get ready to disconnect stuff. It's not like your making a bomb...
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