Many students know of electromagnets, but fewer recognise that there is a magnetic effect around any current-carrying wire

Electricity and Magnetism

Misconception RESEARCH REVIEW

Resources to Address This

  • The Magnetic Fields Produced by Electric Currents (11-14)

    This resource provides a brief physics narrative for the magnetic fields produced by current-carrying wires.

    View Resource

  • Linking electrical current to magnetism (11-14)

    The connection between electric currents and magnetic fields was first demonstrated in 1820 by a Danish scientist named Hans Christian Oersted. 

    Details of the experiment are found in the resource Oersted's experiment.

    View Resource

  • Magnetic field due to an electric current in a wire (11-16)

    Iron filings reveal the pattern of magnetism around a current-carrying wire and the factors that affect it.

    View Resource

References

  • Maloney, D. P., O'Kuma, T. L., Hieggelke, C. J. and Van Heuvelen, A. () Surveying students' conceptual knowledge of electricity and magnetism. American Journal of Physics, 69 (S1), S12-S23.

  • Karal, I. S., Alev, N. and Baskan, Z. () Student teachers’ Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) on electric current and magnetic field. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 2 (2), 1498-1502.

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