The phenomenon of ferromagnetism is well-known to high school and undergraduate students, and its physical basis is explained in most general physics textbooks.1–2 There are some elegant undergraduate experiments that investigate the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition by means of the analysis of the magnetic properties and the electrical resistance of the material above and below the transition point.3–6 However, most of the simple classroom demonstrations of this phenomenon are designed essentially for demonstrating the existence of the Curie point. In this paper we describe a rather simple demonstration experiment for determining quantitatively the Curie temperature of a ferromagnetic material.
REFERENCES
1.
P. A. Tipler, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 4th ed. (Freeman Worth, New York, 1999), pp. 909–913.
2.
R.A. Serway and J.W. Jewett Jr., Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 6th ed. (Thomson, Belmont, CA, 2004), pp. 949–951.
3.
J. N.
Fox
, N.
Gaggini
, and J. K.
Eddy
, “A study of the phase transition of a ferromagnetic material
,” Am. J. Phys.
54
, 723
–726
(Aug. 1986
).4.
R. A. L.
Sullivan
, A.
Dunk
, P. J.
Ford
, R. N.
Hampton
, and J. C.
Hopkins
, “Undergraduate laboratory experiment to determine the Curie temperature of nickel using a resistance technique
,” Eur. J. Phys.
8
, 300
(1987
).5.
Chin-Shan
Lue
, “A direct method for viewing ferromagnetic phase transition
,” Phys. Teach.
32
, 304
(May 1994
).6.
Y.
Kraftmakher
, “Curie point of ferromagnets
,” Eur. J. Phys.
18
, 448
(1997
).7.
8.
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 56th ed., edited by R.C. Weast (The Chemical Rubber Co., Cleveland, 1974), p. E120.
9.
R.M. Sutton, Demonstration Experiments in Physics (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1938), E-103, p. 291.
10.
H.F. Meiners, Physics Demonstration Experiments (Krieger, Malabar, FL, 1970), pp. 32–3.20.
11.
G.
Barnes
, “Demonstrating the Curie point in nickel
,” Phys. Teach.
24
, 86
–87
(Feb. 1986
).12.
F. A.
Levi
and E.
Bilancia
, “Curie point experiment
” (L), Phys. Teach.
25
, 201
(April 1987
).13.
D. E.
Wilson
, “Curie point, again
,” Phys. Teach.
27
, 374
(May 1989
).14.
See Ref. 9, E-104, p. 292.
15.
Czeslaw
Kizowski
, Sylwia
Budzik
, and Józef
Cebulski
, “Finding the Curie temperature for ferromagnetic materials
,” Phys. Teach.
45
, 31
–33
(Jan. 2007
).16.
We have used the TC-08 temperature logger produced by Pico Technology Ltd.
17.
At this point we immerse the sphere and magnet in a container of water in order to avoid excessive heating of the magnet.
This content is only available via PDF.
© 2007 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2007
American Association of Physics Teachers
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.
