Magnetism · Physics

Magnets & Electromagnets Simulation

Drag a compass around a bar magnet and map its field. Then build an electromagnet from a battery and a coil and see how loops, current and AC change it.

Interactive virtual lab · no download · works on phones and laptops

Chapter: Magnetism and Matter · Moving Charges
For: Class 10 · Class 12
Time: ~12 min

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How to use it

1Drag the magnet or the compass.
2Turn on the field grid and the field meter.
3Electromagnet: change loops and battery voltage, or switch to AC.
4Flip the magnet's polarity.

What to notice

Field lines leave the north pole and enter the south pole.
The field weakens quickly with distance — roughly 1/r³ far from the magnet.
An electromagnet's field grows with turns and current: B ∝ nI.
Reversing the current reverses the poles; AC makes them flip continuously.

For teachers

A ready-made teaching kit comes with this lab

Lesson plan
20 min, 4 steps
Ask the class
3 questions with answers
Quick quiz
6 questions, printable
Key formulas
2 formulas

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About the Magnets & Electromagnets simulation

A bar magnet's field runs out of its north pole and round into its south pole, and inside the magnet it runs back from S to N, so the lines are closed loops. A current in a coil makes the same kind of field: an electromagnet, which you can switch off, reverse, or make stronger with more turns and more current.

In this magnets and electromagnets simulation you drag a bar magnet, a compass and a field meter, show field lines and the field inside the magnet, add Earth's field, then switch to an electromagnet powered by DC or AC. It covers Magnetic Effects of Electric Current in Class 10 and Moving Charges and Magnetism and Magnetism and Matter in Class 12.

Also covers: bar magnet, compass, magnetic field lines, solenoid, electromagnet, earth's magnetic field.