For this lab, a magnet generated flashlight, LabView software and the number of shakes of the flashlight were used in order to measure the voltage increase in connection to the number of shakes within the time of 30 seconds. The foundation for this experiment is based on Faraday’s Law which basically means the movement of the magnet in the flashlight moving back and forth between the wire coils affect the electrical currents that are being generated leading to the law of induction.
These were the steps in doing this specific experiment – all steps include using LabView to record data:
- Measure the voltage of the flashlight with NO shakes for 30 seconds.
- The second time, slowly shake the flashlight back and forth for 30 seconds
- The third time, shake the flashlight a little faster than the last time for 30 seconds
- The fourth time, shake it even faster than the last time for 30 seconds
- The final time, shake it as fast as possible for 30 seconds
Throughout this entire process, notice the differences in voltage after each trial and send the recorded numbers onto an excel spreadsheet while keeping track of how many shakes were done for each trial. Once all the data is collected, find the sum of squares for the voltages in each trial along with the number of shakes for each.
Graph of relation between the number of shakes to voltages
As shown in the graph above, the more energy that was used in shaking the magnetic flashlight as well as the higher the number of shakes, the higher the voltage generated. The plotted data in this graph are of the sum of squares for each trial for the generator experiment.