-I followed up with a test, as promised, with an amusing result. I selected a hank of speaker wire which measured 407 microhenries in the air-cored condition.I inserted a nail (actually a 3/8 in bolt) in the core and noted the inductance indication dropped to 397 microhenries, and closing this magnetic circuit showed no change.
I measured the test frequency which was 250 kilohertz and realized any increase in permeability was being swamped by the eddy currents (so-called) in these bolts. Even a 60 hertz magnetic field is usually confined with thin insulated laminations, and higher frequencies call for iron powder or ferrite cores. A much better way of improving inductance is the ferrite "pot" core which provides a central post and a completely enclosed magnetic path. The core splits in two to insert a coil, and its ends exit in side ports. Portable radios featured ferrite rods and such rods would do much better than the nails I proposedfor improving permeability! <g>
On Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 05:50:21 PM CDT, Brian Whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
I'd guess you are providing an open (magnetic) circuit.I'll try this with three nails in contact, and let you know.Brian W
On Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 05:36:52 PM CDT, Carl Mungan via Phys-l <phys-l@mail.phys-l.org> wrote:
I’m wondering about the following. Some multimeters can measure inductance. I have tried with a few coils lying around and I find that with nothing (ie. air) in the core, I get one value of the inductance, say maybe 0.1 H for things like Pasco coils or even some larger coils. If I now insert iron rods or laminated iron bars into them, the inductance increases by about a factor of 10, maybe a bit more or maybe a bit less.
My question is: Since the relative permeability of iron (even at low applied fields) can easily be 10 000 or more, why am I not seeing substantially bigger increases in the inductance when I insert these iron cores?