STEM Diary Entry #10 – Week 7 Term 4

In STEM this week, I finally finished making the prototype of my design! Specifically, I made modifications to the first electromagnet that I will be using in my model until I was happy with it, I made the second electromagnet in exactly the same way that I made the first, and I attempted to manoeuvre a paperclip between these two electromagnets without having to touch the paperclip itself. One of the later modifications that I made to my initial electromagnet was adding a resistor to my electromagnet. As suggested, this would help to regulate the number of electrons flowing through my electromagnet, and therefore reducing the overheating of the battery. Fortunately, the results of this modification were expected and the battery was no longer overheating. As I had now included some improvements to my electromagnet, I added the final modification which was a switch. I had now made a successful electromagnet that I am able to use in my model! I then made an exact copy of this electromagnet, except the second electromagnet did not take as long to make as I did not have to make any modifications to the structure of this electromagnet. This is because I already knew that the structure I had planned was going to be successful, as I had already built a successful electromagnet based on this structure. I had now made two successful electromagnets that I am able to use in my model! However, it was now almost the end of the lesson and I was running out of time to complete my project. So, in order to complete my project, I decided to modify my model by making it a bit simpler, easier, and quicker to make. This involved using only two electromagnets (instead of the intended four electromagnets), meaning that the paperclip would only be manoeuvred in a straight line between two electromagnets (instead of being manoeuvred in a rectangular shape between four electromagnets as intended). However, I still managed to complete the successfully functioning modified prototype of my design!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *