User:Brian P. Josey/Notebook/2010/12/28
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Helmholtz Coil ConstructionEven though I know the forces from Helmholtz coils are pretty small, I decided to just move forward on building it. I looked through the optics lab trying to find something that I could use for my build. I originally offered up using some of the lens holders, since they were circular and close to the dimensions that I want. But they have the problem of being made out of aluminum, and if something I create shorts out, it will energize the whole structure of the coil.
Building the Helmholtz CoilI was originally going to build my electromagnet out of two lens holders from the optics lab that were about the dimensions that I wanted. However, the lens holders are much more useful fufilling their original purpose, and there was a slight safety concern with the construction. The holders are made out of aluminum, and if there was a short they could become energized. In place of this potentially dangerous build, I decided to just build it out of Legos as per Andy's suggestion. Now, I picked Lego as a building material not just because they are amazing, but because they are made out of plastic, relatively cheap, easily replaceable and close to the the sizes that I want. To build up my Helmholtz coil, I used eight pieces:
The first step was to create an opening in the piece for inserting the connectors into. I did this by using a saw with a thin wire blade to cut out the ruff chunks, and a needle file to smooth it out a little so the slides can go in and out easily. This is what the final product looked like:
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