Cool Science Project Idea for 8th Grade Student

Here you can create a simple electric motor. You will not be hooking this up to anything except itself. It is a good demonstration for your science fair project. Here is all you will need for this experiment. This is a great High School or middle school project.

A battery - a AA type works well
A small magnet that is about the size of a quarter or nickel
A piece of wire approximately 6 to 10 inches long

Steps to complete the experiment:

Take the wire and make a small hook in the one end and hold it so that it touches the top of the battery where the end protrudes. This is the positive or + end.

Now wrap the wire in a spiral fashion around and down the battery. When you get to the end of the battery you will have wire left over. Let a little wire extend out to the side that will touch the magnet edge.

Place the magnet at the bottom of the battery and make sure the wire touches the edge of the magnet.

Using a nail make a little dent in the top of the positive end so that the wire sits in one spot and stays there while it spins.

As the magnet sits on the table with the battery on top you should be able to take the coiled wire on and off the group. This is good for the demonstration because once you have the wire touching the top of the battery and the end of the wire touching the bottom side of the magnet the wire will spin around continually.

Now for your science project research portion. You need to learn why the wire will spin around the battery and magnet. What fields are created by the magnet? What does the battery have that will help create the wire movement.