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From the Cabinet of Physics: Creating Eddy Currents

By Bill Higgins  |  15 Apr 2016

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This entry is part 19 of 23 in the series From the Cabinet of Physics

Since many of the inventions of the 19th century exploited the interactions between electricity and magnetism, it was important to give students and understanding of these effects. Here are three devices from the Cabinet of Physics that demonstrate eddy currents: the Arago disk, the Foucault apparatus, and the Ruhmkorff electromagnet.

Eddy currents are currents that flow through a metal object that moves through a magnetic field. Their effects can interfere with the operation of electromagnetic devices, so engineers learn techniques for minimizing eddy currents–examples here are the second Arago disk, which features radial slots cut into it, and the dangling cube made up of many thin layers of copper as opposed to a solid copper cube.

The Foundation for Science and Technics, or Fondazione Scienza e Tecnica, of Florence, Italy, has made available many videos exploring the Cabinet of Physics, a large collection of antique scientific demonstration instruments.  The Foundation’s homepage may be found here, and its Youtube channel, florencefst, here.

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More Posts in this Series:
"From the Cabinet of Physics"

78  |  What Do We Lose When We Sacrifice Science?

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  27 May 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

69  |  To err is human… to admit it, is science

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18  |  From the Cabinet of Physics: Lissajous Figures, Old Style

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20  |  From the Cabinet of Physics: Using a Single-Prism Spectroscope

By Bill Higgins  |  8 Apr 2016

21  |  From the Cabinet of Physics: A Machine for Falling

By Bill Higgins  |  31 Mar 2016

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