I have a bar of iron/steel (not too sure, but magnets do stick to it); it is about 8 inches long and about the diameter of a quarter. I intend to wrap as much 30 gauge copper wire on as I can fit, up to 200 ft. Assuming that I wind the whole bar in wire, what should I use as my power source if I want to throw paper clips and other misc. items from 10 ft away and have them stick? Is this possible with the materials listed, or would I have to build a bigger one? Finally, any suggestions as to how I might make my electromagnet work better and what else I could use it for would be very much appreciated.
Use a smaller gauge wire to achieve more windings. Make sure you use a lacquered wire (not plastic insulation either)because BARE copper wire will not work at all. You won't have any coil, just a mass of copper. I would use a variable voltage power source. something like an electric train transformer which starts out at 4 volts DIRECT CURRENT is necessary!, then you can turn it up to 12 volts. Be sure to include a 12 volt DC light bulb in your circuit to avoid crating a 'short circuit' with no 'load'. Please do not plug it into the house outlets of 120 or 220 volts. This is dangerous and AC, alternating current, not good. Wind the copper wire onto ONE HALF of the bar. The entire bar will become a magnet, and your paper clips will stick to the bare steel, and not the copper of course.
you at the instant are not explaining your self ok. Cycles per minute is sluggish. vehicle ignition coils generate very intense voltage at low present day. that's not ideal for driving an electromagnet. .
