Electricity and Magnetism

NGSS Alignment: MS-PS2-3

The disciplinary core idea behind this standard is PS2.B: Types of Interactions. It specifically looks at electric and magnetic forces and how they can be attractive or repulsive, and how the size of the force can depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved. The strength can also depend on the distances between the interacting forces. 

Exploration

Until the late 1800’s, electricity and magnetism were regarded as separate forces. A number of scientists, including Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell, made important discoveries which led to our current understanding of electricity and magnetism. The interaction between positive and negative charges is, in fact, one force, the electromagnetic force, which results in both electrical currents and magnetic fields.