National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: William Shockley
Find out about William Bradford Shockley, who shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the first point-contact transistor and the invention of the more advanced junction transistor. His later research focused on developing...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Julian Schwinger
Theoretical physicist Julian Schwinger used the mathematical process of renormalization to rid the quantum field theory developed by Paul Dirac of serious incongruities with experimental observations that had nearly prompted the...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: John Robert Schrieffer
While still in graduate school, John Robert Schrieffer developed with John Bardeen and Leon Cooper a theoretical explanation of superconductivity that garnered the trio the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1972. The BCS theory (the acronym...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Heinrich Rohrer
Swiss physicist Heinrich Rohrer co-invented the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), a non-optical instrument that allows the observation of individual atoms in three dimensions, with Gerd Binnig. The achievement garnered the pair half...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Carl Edwin Wieman
Carl Edwin Wieman is one of three physicists credited with the discovery of a fifth phase of matter, for which he was awarded a share of the prestigious Nobel Prize in 2001. The recognition capped a distinguished career that began deep...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Sin Itiro Tomonaga
Japanese theoretical physicist Sin-Itiro Tomonaga resolved key problems with the theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED) developed by Paul Dirac in the late 1920s through the use of a mathematical technique he referred to as...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Jean Charles Athanase Peltier (1785 1845)
Although he didn't start studying physics until he retired from the clock-making business at age 30, French native Jean Peltier made immense contributions to science that still reverberate today. Even with the primitive tools available...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Charles Augustin De Coulomb
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb invented a device, dubbed the torsion balance, that allowed him to measure very small charges and experimentally estimate the force of attraction or repulsion between two charged bodies. The data he obtained...
Climate Literacy
Clean: Going for a Spin Making a Model Steam Turbine
Learners explore how various energy sources can be used to cause a turbine to rotate and then generate electricity with a magnet.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Modulated Coil
Can you hear a magnet? In this activity you will be able to transfer the sound from your iPhone, iPod or radio to a cassette-tape player.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Electromagnetic Forces
Given schematic diagrams, illustrations or descriptions, students will identify the relationship of electric and magnetic fields in applications such as generators, motors, and transformers.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Daniell Cell
English chemist John Frederick Daniell came up with a twist on the simple voltaic cell that resulted in a longer-lasting source of power.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Faraday's Ice Pail
Out of a humble ice pail the great experimentalist Michael Faraday created a device to demonstrate key principles of attraction, repulsion and electrostatic induction. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Oscillator
Oscillators are a type of circuit found in many types of electronic equipment, including clocks, radios and computers. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Oil Drop
It may look like a simple black blob, but an oil drop is in fact a phenomenally complex mix of immense molecules called hydrocarbons. Using a type of mass spectrometry called FT-ICR, scientists can analyze oil and other macromolecules...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Crookes Tube 1870
English chemist Sir William Crookes (1832 - 1919) invented the Crookes tube to study gases, which fascinated him. His work also paved the way for the revolutionary discovery of the electron and the invention of X-ray machines.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Transatlantic Telegraph Cable 1858
The main figure behind the first transatlantic telegraph knew very little about the science or engineering behind it, but was convinced that with it a fortune could be made. Read about these findings here.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Steam Condensing Engine 1769
Few inventions have affected human history as much as the steam engine. Without it, there would have been no locomotives, no steamers and no Industrial Revolution.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Paul Dirac
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was an outstanding twentieth century theoretical physicist whose work was fundamental to the development of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics jointly with...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: John Bardeen
John Bardeen was one of a handful of individuals awarded the Nobel Prize twice and the first scientist to win dual awards in physics. Both times, he shared the prize with others. The first time his co-recipients were Walter Brattain and...
PBS
Pbs: Who Made America?: Innovators: Samuel Insull
This British-born businessman made cheap public utilities a reality for Americans, bringing them electricity and an improved quality of life.
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Rail Gun Lab
This lab was designed to have students test the factors that affect the acceleration of a metal bar that is carrying a current through a magnetic field.
Famous Scientists
Famous Scientists: Hans Christian Oersted
Learn how Hans Christian Oersted's discoveries in electricity led him to discover electromagnetism.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Resources: Electromagnetic Field Theory
College-level electrical engineering textbook starting from the Coulomb-Lorentz force law on a point charge. Sample problems that reinforce the content are found at the end of each chapter. Includes downloadable excerpts of the textbook...