How the Electro-Magnetic Train Works:

Electricity and magnetism are linked in a way that scientists do not completely understand.  Each can create the other.  If you wrap a copper wire into coils and run an electrical current through it, you will create a magnetic field.  If you rotate a permanent magnet (as opposed to an item that has been magnetized) inside a coil of copper wire, you can create an electrical current.

In this project, the neodymium magnets on the ends of the battery create a bar magnet with a north pole and a south pole.  When you put the train inside the coils, it causes an electrical current to flow through the copper wire, which creates a magnetic field in the section of wire coils right around the train car.  This magnetic field has its own north and south poles, which push the train along the track.  You’ll notice that the train will only run one direction because of it’s magnetic poles.  It’s pretty amazing science!

​​