Try this fun Science Experiment with the kids!
Supplies needed:
• 3m uncoated copper wire (roughly 20 gauge in thickness)
• thick marker
• 6 to 9 disk-shaped neodymium magnets
• AAA battery
The experiment:
Wrap the copper wire tightly around your marker, spooling the wire to make a giant “slinky” snake. Remove the marker. Separate the magnet from each other into two piles. Hold the magnet piles tightly in different hands (these magnets are STRONG), and then move the magnets closer to each other. If the magnets pull towards each other, flip one of the magnet stacks over and move your hands together again. You want the magnets to repel each other. Place the battery in the middle of the two stacks of repelling magnets. Lay your snake out on a flat surface and put the battery train into the tube. If the battery does not go through, pull it out and flip it around.
The outcome:
Your ‘train’ should move through the ‘tunnel’.
Why it worked:
Remember how the magnets repelled each other on both sides of the battery? This created a magnetic force. Inside the copper wire tube, the force pulls on the magnets, making the magnets and battery move, pulling the train along.
Safety first: Do not put the magnets in your mouth!
Source: The 101 Coolest Science Experiments by Rachel Miller, Holly Homer and Jamie Harrington.