Participants Will Learn About the Ferro Fluid. What Makes the Ferro Fluid Magnetic And

FERROFLUID

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OVERVIEW

Participants will learn about the Ferro fluid. What makes the Ferro fluid magnetic and why does it spike up when a magnet is close

OBJECTIVES

After this lesson the students would be able to explain what a ferrofluid is and what makes it react with “spikes” when a magnet is near by

MATERIALS

·  Ferro Fluid

·  Magnet

·  Bolt and Screw

·  Gloves and other protective gear

·  Aluminum foil

·  Transfer pipet

·  Tissue paper

PROCEDURES

Activity 1 Magnetic Field of a Permanent Magnet

1.  Hold the display cell and button magnets around the display cell.

2.  Move the magnets around the display cell and observe what happens

Activity 2 Floating penny

1.  Place the aluminum dish on top of the ring magnet and place the penny inside the dish.

2.  With the transfer pipet carefully add a little bit of Ferro fluid to the dish.

3.  The penny will rise to the surface of the Ferro fluid

4.  Lift the dish off of the ring magnet and the Ferro fluid density returns to its natural value and allows the penny to sink.

Activity 3 the Art of Science

1.  Place the aluminum dish on a stack of magnets

2.  Add your bolts and screw on top of the aluminum

3.  Slowly add ferrofluid on top of the screw and magnet.

4.  Watch it crate spikes.

BACKGROUND

A ferrofluid is a liquid that becomes strongly magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field. Ferrofluid was invented in 1963 by NASA's Steve Papell as a liquid rocket fuel that could be drawn toward a pump inlet in a weightless environment by applying a magnetic field.

Ferrofluid has been submersed in sugar water. Sugar has been added to increase the density of the water to the point where the ferrofluid appears weightless

Ferrofluids are colloidal liquids made of nanoscale ferromagnetic, or ferrimagnetic, particles suspended in a carrier fluid . Each tiny particle is thoroughly coated with a surfactant to inhibit clumping. Large ferromagnetic particles can be ripped out of the homogeneous colloidal mixture, forming a separate clump of magnetic dust when exposed to strong magnetic fields. The magnetic attraction of nanoparticles is weak enough that the surfactant's Van der Waals force is sufficient to prevent magnetic clumping or agglomeration. Ferrofluids usually do not retain magnetization in the absence of an externally applied field and thus are often classified as "super paramagnets" rather than ferromagnet.

References

Ferrofluidic Adventure Science Kit

www.ferrotec.com