Connecting Electricity and Magnetism Phenomena

Different frequencies of voice and music are being sent out by the radio in terms of how the current is varied. The signal is coming through the wire which makes different things happen in the cup to create different sounds.

The bigger the coil, the stronger the magnet, the louder the sound. However students recognized that there are factors which are changing– different cup sizes and different magnets could cause the variance in volume.

Observations
One of the students asked, “is this considered lining things up when I put the north end to the south end of a magnet? Or separating them? Now, when I switch one magnet the other way so that the south end is touching the south end of another magnet (and vice versa), are they lined up?”

The students decided that when 2 south or 2 north ends of a magnet are together and placed on an object to create a speaker, it is louder than when you unalike ends together. When you have opposite poles touching the wire, the speaker is quieter.

Students also agreed on the following language to describe what's happening when magnets are placed next to each other:
Lined up: When a N pole is next to a S pole
Ordered: When a N pole is next to a N and when a S pole is next to a S

The students wondered what would happen if they lined up two cow magnets and placed them into a pile of paperclips. Next they placed a group of magnets into the pile of paperclips and found that they didn't pick up a huge amount more.


When one magnet is placed into a pile of paperclips, it picks up about the same amount as two magnets which are lined up vs. placing two magnets which are ordered into the pile… which were able to pick up the most: