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magnetism

Fossil compasses

Article

Fossil compasses

The Earth has a magnetic field around it, and some magnetic minerals line up with that field. A compass also ...

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Diagram of the relative size of sand, silt and clay particles.

Activity

Meissner effect – Nick Strickland video clips

In this activity, students watch video clips of IRL research scientist Dr Nick Strickland talking about superconductivity and the Meissner ...

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Exploring magnetism

Teacher PLD

Exploring magnetism

In this recorded professional learning session, Lyn Rogers and Dr Simon Taylor explore aspects of magnetism. They:

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Introducing magnetism

Article

Introducing magnetism

Magnetism is a fascinating invisible force – it influences the environment around it. A magnet is a material that can ...

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Making an electromagnet

Activity

Making an electromagnet

Magnetism and electricity are forces generated by the movement of electrons. They are both electromagnetic forces – the interplay of ...

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Using magnetism

Article

Using magnetism

What is magnetism used for? Do you have fridge magnets? Have you ever noticed that the refrigerator door pulls itself shut when you start to close ...

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Spinsolve making nuclear magnetic resonance accessible

Article

Spinsolve making nuclear magnetic resonance accessible

A New Zealand-designed benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer called Spinsolve is making material analysis easier for a variety of industries. According to the machine’s developers ...

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Space plasma

Article

Space plasma

Stars like our Sun are made of ionised gas known as plasma. In fact, space is dominated by plasma – space scientists (astrophysicists) believe that about ...

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Plasmas explained

Article

Plasmas explained

We happily live in the Earth’s gaseous lower atmosphere composed of a mixture of gases – primarily nitrogen and oxygen. However, if we move upwards from ...

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Sir Paul Callaghan (1947–2012)

Article

Sir Paul Callaghan (1947–2012)

Professor Sir Paul Callaghan, physicist and founding director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, passed away on 24 March 2012. Professor Sir Paul ...

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Mapping the Milky Way’s magnetic field

Article

Mapping the Milky Way’s magnetic field

Astronomers at Victoria University were part of an international team led by Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), which has pooled their radio astronomy observations ...

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Dr Nick Strickland

Article

Dr Nick Strickland

Position: Senior Scientist, Robinson Research Institute. Former Research scientist, Industrial Research Limited (IRL). Field: Physics research A visit to the Ontario Science Centre in Canada as ...

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Superconductivity

Article

Superconductivity

Superconductors are materials that lose all resistance to electric current when cooled to a certain temperature. This temperature depends on the structure and composition of the ...

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Super magnets attract international interest

Article

Super magnets attract international interest

Industrial Research Limited (IRL) has developed a type of very powerful magnet – a dipole – using high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coils. In 2009 the first magnet ...

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Article

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to detect things an X-ray can’t. MRI can look for disease, bleeding, Parkinson’s disease and head injuries. Dr Richard ...

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Does blood have magnetic properties?

Article

Does blood have magnetic properties?

Blood contains haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is an iron (Fe) containing protein that transports oxygen around the body from the lungs to where it is needed, like the ...

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Investigating magnetism

Activity

Investigating magnetism

Magnetism is an engaging context for science learning, and investigating the properties of magnets is a great activity for building curiosity. Moving students from simply playing ...

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Making a weather vane and compass

Activity

Making a weather vane and compass

The earliest weather vane we know about was in Greece in 48 BC, erected in honour of the Greek god Triton. It became quite popular for ...

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Make an electric motor

Activity

Make an electric motor

Three historic discoveries were instrumental in the development of electric motors – the invention of the battery by Alessandro Volta in 1800, the generation of a ...

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Superconductivity – Bob Buckley interview

Activity

Superconductivity – Bob Buckley interview

In this activity, students listen to a podcast of IRL superconductivity scientist Bob Buckley talking about this work and then answer a series of graded questions ...

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Probing fridge magnets

Activity

Probing fridge magnets

In this activity, students investigate the pattern of magnetic fields on a fridge magnet. This will give them an idea of the principle behind scanning probe ...

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n-back test

Activity

n-back test

In this activity, students practise and then design n-back tests. By the end of this activity, students should be able to: understand how the n-back test ...

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Hands holding a red and white bar magnets

Image

Bar magnets

Bar magnets are typical magnets used in schools, coloured to show the poles – red showing north and grey showing south.

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Six small compasses around a bar magnet.

Image

Compasses showing magnetic force field

Small compasses showing the direction of the force field around a bar magnet.

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