{"id":3476,"date":"2019-02-28T15:54:16","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T15:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/?p=3476"},"modified":"2024-12-04T15:54:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T15:54:14","slug":"what-is-an-electromagnet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is an Electromagnet?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"164\" src=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Simple_electromagnet2-300x164.gif\" alt=\"Wire coiled around a metal pipe making a electromagnet\" class=\"wp-image-3477\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>From stereo speakers and computer hard drives to heavy lifting devices and power generators, electromagnets are used in a variety of applications. They are called &#8220;electromagnets&#8221; because they rely on an electrical current to produce a magnetic field. This is in stark contrast to conventional magnets, also known as permanent magnets, that do not rely on an electrical charge to produce a magnetic field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History of Electromagnets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While permanent magnets occur naturally in Earth&#8217;s crust, electromagnets are man-made. The device&#8217;s origins can be traced back to 1820 when a Danish scientist named Christian Orsted discovered that by producing an electrical current through a coiled wire, he could produce a magnetic field. Just a few years, William Sturgeon turned Orsted&#8217;s idea into a reality by building one of the world&#8217;s first electromagnets out of copper wire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Electromagnets Can Be Turned On and Off <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Because they use an electrical current to produce a magnetic field, electromagnets can be turned on and off. When the electrical current is active, the electromagnet produces a magnetic field. When it&#8217;s not active, the electromagnet doesn&#8217;t produce a magnetic field. Therefore, electromagnets be used to selectively create a magnetic field when magnetism is needed for a specific purpose. In heavy lifting devices, for example, an electromagnetic may be activated to lift a heavy load. After lifting the load and moving it to a different area, a worker may deactivate the electromagnet to release the load. This isn&#8217;t possible with permanent magnets, which constantly produce a magnetic field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Electromagnets Are Designed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Most electromagnets are designed with a coil of wire wrapped around a core consisting of a ferromagnetic material, such as iron. As electricity flows through the wire, it creates a concentrated magnetic field in the center of the coil. And using a ferromagnetic core further amplifies the strength of the device&#8217;s magnetic field.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Electromagnets vs Permanent Magnets<br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Both electromagnets and permanent magnets have their own advantages and disadvantages. The primary advantage of using an electromagnet over a permanent magnet is that you can control its magnetic field. You turn on and off the device&#8217;s magnetic field, and with many electromagnets, you can even control the power of the magnetic field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When using an electromagnet, though, you&#8217;ll need a power supply to provide an electrical current. Some electromagnets are plugged into an electrical outlet, whereas others contain a battery bank. Permanent magnets, on the other hand, don&#8217;t require a power source since they are naturally ferromagnetic.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>See Monroe&#8217;s <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/products-magnets.php\" style=\"background-color:#600;padding:5px;color:white;text-decoration: underline;\">Magnets<\/a>.<\/h3><br>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From stereo speakers and computer hard drives to heavy lifting devices and power generators, electromagnets are used in a variety of applications. They are called &#8220;electromagnets&#8221; because they rely on an electrical current to produce a magnetic field. This is &hellip; <a class=\"continue-reading\" href=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3477,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[1901],"class_list":["post-3476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magnets","tag-magnet"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is an Electromagnet? | OneMonroe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An electromagnet is a magnet that can turn alter it&#039;s magnetic field with the electricity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is an Electromagnet? | OneMonroe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An electromagnet is a magnet that can turn alter it&#039;s magnetic field with the electricity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OneMonroe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/monroeengineering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-28T15:54:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-04T15:54:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Simple_electromagnet2.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"580\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"317\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MonroeEngineer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MonroeEngineer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brent\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brent\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f3af8d980932e48438db27b8db206612\"},\"headline\":\"What Is an Electromagnet?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-28T15:54:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-04T15:54:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/\"},\"wordCount\":427,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Magnet\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Magnets\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/what-is-an-electromagnet\/\",\"name\":\"What Is an Electromagnet? 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