1. Which of the following statements best explains the phenomena shown here?

• There can be an interaction between objects that are not touching.
• Gravitational forces attract anything that has mass.
• Some materials are better insulators or conductors.
• We cannot observe the effects of electrical forces.

2. The evidence we can observe in this phenomena is that these objects and this is causing an .

3. Which of the following pieces of evidence would help you to determine that the forces we’re observing are an interaction between the two objects when they’re close to each other?

• When the copper has no current running through it, the interaction disappears.
• If we place steel into the copper coil, we observe the same effects much more quickly.
• When the aluminum is outside of the copper coil, the aluminum does not heat up on its own.
• Placing plastic into the copper coil does not create heat or movement in the plastic.

4. What additional piece of evidence or test would help you to distinguish that what we’re seeing is either an electrical or a magnetic force?

5. What evidence is there that forces are acting on the aluminum in the middle of the coil?

6. One of your classmates recommends you use either a magnet or a voltmeter to determine the presence of an electrical or magnetic field. Why would it be important to use either of those tools?

7. One of your classmates proposes an investigation to determine if what you’re observing is due to magnetic or electrical forces acting on the aluminum.

They suggest hanging the aluminum by a string at different heights from the copper coil to see what happens.

Would this method allow them to determine if the aluminum is being affected by forces such as magnetism and electricity? Why or why not?

8. To determine what’s happening here, your teacher asks for ideas on how to gather data on the forces involved here. Explain 2 different experiments you might try if you had these tools to collect data. Explain why each one would provide helpful data.

9. A classmate proposes an investigation to determine if this phenomenon is due to magnetic or electrical forces:



“To determine if the current had any effect on the interaction, we’ll increase or decrease the amount of current passing through the copper coil.”



Why would this information would be helpful in investigating the interaction between these two objects?

10. Evaluate your last answer. Would the data provided from each of your tests provide evidence that forces are acting on these metals when they aren’t in contact?