**Magnet Strength** - Need Help with Procedures

[dlkfulford]

My 4th grade daughter chose this topic from her STEM Fair Journal Suggestion List:
"How is the Strength of a Magnet Affected by Glass, Cardboard, and Plastic?"

However, we are having a hard time finding material lists and procedures for this project. We've been to the library and have searched the internet. Does anyone have any suggestions of resources where we can find procedures for conducting this type of research. We want to make sure we're performing an appropriate experiment.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[kgudger]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

From your description, it would appear that your daughter wants to test various magnetic insulators. I did not find a Science Buddies experiment about insulators, but there is one about magnets versus temperature: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Phys_p025.shtml. I found another site that discusses magnetic insulators, but I don't know anything about the quality of the site (and they're trying to sell you an e-book.) http://www.experiland.com/html_projects/EM/11011801_EM_Test%20and%20compare%20electrical%20insulators%20opposed%20to%20magnetic%20insulators.htm

When testing magnetic "strength", there are many pitfalls in the procedure. As a science fair judge, I often find that students fail to appreciate many of the things that can go wrong. This makes their data have little meaning in most magnet experiments. Once you've defined your question and hypothesis, please check back in and we'll try and help you avoid some of the usual problems.

Keith