That's Just Plain Nuts! Materials

A cool optical illusion and introduction to magnetic induction. You are going to suspend a stack of hex nuts using a pair of book magnets, demonstrating that magnetic fields can be induced in iron objects. To do this you have to set up an arrangement where the magnetic field of the book magnets has influence over, but is not actually touching, the nuts. When you get it just right it produces a lot of smiles.

Demo Pack includes:  2 book magnets, 15 small paperclips, 15 straight pins, 15 steel bearings (bb's), 15 brass brads, 5 hex nuts, 15-cm ruler, 2 12-oz cups, 4-oz cup, cow magnet

Study Group Pack includes:  8 book magnets,  60 paperclips, 60 straight pins, 60 steel bearings (bb's), 60 brass brads, 20 hex nuts, 4 15-cm rulers, 8 12-oz cups, 4 4-oz cups, 4 cow magnets

Classroom Pack includes:  20 book magnets,  150 paperclips, 150 straight pins, 150 steel bearings (bb's), 150 brass brads, 50 hex nuts, 10 15-cm rulers, 20 12-oz cups, 10 4-oz cups, 10 cow magnets

Find the Lesson Plans Here