http://www.ck12.org Chapter 5. Energy
5.85 Discovery of Electromagnetism
- Describe the accidental discovery of electromagnetism.
- Explain how Oersted found the direction of the magnetic field around a wire carrying current.
- State Faraday’s law.
Tamara made the simple device in this picture for science class. She wrapped a wire around a nail and connected
the ends of the wire to the terminals of a battery. The nail is attracting paper clips, so it appears to have become
magnetized. The device isn’t complicated, but it shows a very important relationship.
Q:What does Tamara’s device show?
A:The device shows that you can use electricity to create magnetism.
Electricity and Magnetism
Magnetism produced by electricity is calledelectromagnetism. Today, electromagnetism is used in many electric
devices. However, until electromagnetism was discovered, scientists thought that electricity and magnetism were
unrelated. A Danish scientist named Hans Christian Oersted (pictured in theFigure5.183) changed all that. He made
the important discovery that electric current creates a magnetic field. But like many other important discoveries in
science, Oersted’s discovery was just a lucky accident.