Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab

Among the many scientific discoveries of the 19th century, Michael Faraday’s law of induction is one that sparked many of the technological advancements that followed. In fact, electromagnetic induction represents the principle behind transformers, inductors, electrical motors and generators – devices that are still essential to our electric-powered society.

If you’re studying physics, understanding Faraday’s law is a must. One way to learn more about it is by using Faraday’s Electromagnetic Lab.

Designed specifically for educational purposes, Faraday’s Electromagnetic Lab is a Java application that features a few simple animations that are easy to understand. In the main interface, you can manipulate objects with your mouse in order to understand how they interact, according to Faraday’s law.

The program has five different tabs, each representing a different simulation with objects that can be moved and a few parameters that can be changed. From an educational point of view, each tab can be considered a lesson.

In the first one you learn about a magnet and how moving it around affects a magnetic field. The second tab introduces a pickup coil and allows you to move the magnet through that coil, thus inducing current. The third tab introduces the electromagnet, the fourth allows you to understand how a transformer works, while the fifth demonstrates the basic principle of a generator.

Keep in mind that Faraday’s Electromagnetic Lab was created to be used by both students and teachers. If you, like me, have a hard time understanding basic laws of physics, it’s very unlikely that you’ll learn anything by yourself without the aid of a teacher, scrolling hopelessly through Wikipedia pages or trying to remember that episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey where they talk about Michael Faraday.

But in an educational environment, Faraday’s Electromagnetic Lab can be a useful tool. Even if the graphics are far from being spectacular, they are colorful and (sometimes) psychedelic enough to make a dull learning process a bit more fun.