When the fuse blew at our house

Courtsey: www.overunityresearch.com

During high school, my passion for science was unbound. I was more inclined towards the practical side of it. I used to love the science lab times, and I ran several experiments running at my house too. I made a very powerful binoculars (that I used to spot chicks sometimes), and one time made one for Ajay also when we were trying to get a closer look at Mussorie snow topped hills. I was already playing around with electronic components and soldering iron and the circuits. I even had a small chemistry lab. However not all experiments ran succesfully. Some were mere blunders, and one of them was on my quest for electromagnetism. The book said that if you wrapped wire around a bolt and connect the ends to positive and negative terminals, the nail would become magnetic. Excitedly, I put the model together and plugged the ends into the wall socket. As soon as I turned the switch on , the whole house went dark!!! I didn't realize that the intensity of the current had to be controlled. Well, I guess I was still maturing; Edison didn't invent light bulb in one take, did he?

I continued to ponder over this experiment for 30 years until today. When kids decided to participate in the Science fair, old memories nudged me and I immediately decided to give my experiment a second take. These days are different though. There it too much information available online already, and for something simple like this a you tube video sufficed. We took a nail, wrapped some copper wire around it and connected the ends to a battery (ah!). Eureka, it worked, and it was pretty strong, too.