Credit Points 2
MYSTERIOUS MAGNETISM
In ancient times, people found certain rocks that clung together in bunches. These rocks were very mysterious. People didn't understand them and many superstitions grew up about lodestones, as these rocks were called. Lodestone (sometimes spelled loadstone) means leading stone. People even told Columbus not to sail out of sight of land because a giant lodestone was just over the horizon waiting to pull all the nails out of his ships.
The Chinese were the first to use magnets. They found that if you hung a lodestone by a string, one end of the stone would always point in the direction of the North Star. They had the first magnetic compasses.
An artificial magnet can be made by stroking or gently rubbing a piece of steel with a lodestone. This piece of steel then can be used to magnetize another piece of steel. This can be continued on and on. Lodestones are not always available but you can get the same results with an electric current. So, magnetism and electricity are very closely related.
What to Do
Learn about magnetism by doing the experiments that follow.
Seeing is believing!
Materials You Will Need
2 dry cell batteries (#905)
A few feet of No. 18 bell wire
3 steel knitting needles or similar hard steel
2 ft. of light thread
Sheet of light cardboard or stiff paper
Permanent magnet (bar or horseshoe)
Compass
1 or more large nails or spikes
Red and black china-marking pencils or crayons
Iron filings
Wire cutters
Carpet tacks