Fifth Grade
Worksheets
Electromagnets
You know what a magnet is. It is a piece of metal, often iron or an iron alloy, which attracts and pushes away other pieces of metal containing iron. A magnet also attracts and repels other magnets. A magnet has many uses.
So let's say you want to pick up something really heavy with a magnet. You want to move a car. You would need a really big, strong magnet for that. Once you get that big magnet to lift the car, how would you get it off the car? If it's strong enough to lift a car, you couldn't pull it off by yourself. You'd need a bunch of people - maybe fifty or one hundred people to move the magnet! So maybe a magnet isn't the right tool for the job.
That's only partly correct. A magnet is a great tool for lifting heavy things. A permanent magnet isn't the solution, though. An electromagnet is what you need.
