The student wants to use nails made of different metals to see which type of nail makes the best electromagnet.

Question

Which investigation should the student perform to determine which type of nail makes the strongest electromagnet?
B
D
Wrap each type of nail with a different number of coils of the same type of wire and record how many paper clips each nail picks up.
Wrap each type of nail with 40 coils of the same type of wire and record how many paper clips each nail picks up.
Wrap as many coils as possible around each type of nail and record which type of nail can hold the most coils.
Wrap each type of nail with a different type of wire and record how many paper clips each nail picks up.

Answer 1

To determine which type of nail makes the strongest electromagnet, the student should follow a consistent method to ensure that the results are comparable across different types of nails. Here are considerations to make:

• Keep the number of coils around each nail the same to ensure any differences in strength are due to the nail material and not the number of coils.
• Use the same type of wire for each nail to ensure uniformity.

With these considerations in mind, the best option among the ones provided would be:

B: Wrap each type of nail with 40 coils of the same type of wire and record how many paper clips each nail picks up.

This method allows the student to control for the number of coils and the type of wire, thereby focusing directly on how the different types of nails influence the strength of the electromagnet.