{"id":67506,"date":"2026-09-16T04:32:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T19:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phys-edu.net\/wp\/?p=67506"},"modified":"2026-09-16T04:32:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T19:32:01","slug":"see-the-invisible-making-magnetic-fields-visible-with-pascal-wire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phys-edu.net\/wp\/?p=67506&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"See the Invisible: Making Magnetic Fields Visible with Pascal Wire"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m Ken Kuwako, a Science Trainer. Every day is an experiment!<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do you teach students about the relationship between electric current and magnetic fields? There are quite a few rules to remember, such as the \u201cright-hand screw rule\u201d and \u201cFleming\u2019s left-hand rule,\u201d but helping students actually experience the presence of an invisible magnetic field can be quite a challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019d like to introduce an experiment for observing the magnetic field around a straight current-carrying wire using a Pascal wire<\/strong>. A Pascal wire is a special wire containing 10 wires connected in parallel. Although it appears that only 1 A of current is flowing, it behaves as if a current of 10 A were flowing.<\/strong> This makes it possible to produce a strong magnetic field with a relatively small current, allowing students to observe the magnetic field much more clearly.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the video below. Because the wire produces a relatively strong magnetic field, you can easily observe the field by placing compasses around it.<\/p>\n