Most often people would think solenoid and electromagnet are the same thing. While in fact they are not. Solenoid electromagnet related questions below may help you distinguish.
What Is A Solenoid?
A solenoid is a cylindrical coil of wire acting as a magnet when carrying an electric current.
A solenoid is a device comprised of a coil of wire, the housing and a moveable plunger (armature). When an electrical current is introduced, a magnetic field forms around the coil which draws the plunger in. More simply, a solenoid converts electrical energy into mechanical work.
What Is An Electromagnet?
An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire wound into a coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic field which is concentrated in the hole, denoting the center of the coil.
Or to put it in a simpler way, it is a core of magnetic material (such as iron) surrounded by a coil of wire through which an electric current is passed to magnetize the core.
Is A Solenoid An Electromagnetic Device?
A solenoid is a type of electromagnet, the purpose of which is to generate a controlled magnetic field through a coil wound into a tightly packed helix.
But most of the times, the electromagnets that we prepare consist of large number of coils with a core inside the coil (usually a solenoid). The only function of adding a core and increasing the number of turns is to increase the strength of the magnetic field.
Solenoid can be defined as a coil wound into a tightly packed into a helix. Both electromagnets as well as solenoids can have magnetic cores. In fact, most simple inductors are basically a solenoid with a magnetic core to enhance its inductance.
How Are Solenoids Related To Electromagnets? Or how Can Solenoid Be Made Into An Electromagnet?
A solenoid is just a coil of wire, but when you run a current through it, it becomes an electromagnet.
How Are Solenoids and Electromagnets Similar?
A solenoid is an electromagnet but an electromagnet needn’t necessarily be a solenoid. An electromagnet is a made coil associated with a ferromagnetic core. This way, the strength of the magnet is controlled by the input current.
So you could say that the solenoid is interesting because of the uniform magnetic flux density inside, and the electromagnet because of the non uniform magnetic flux density outside (an electromagnet may be done with a solenoid).
What Do Solenoids And Electromagnets Have In Common? Or What Are The Characteristics Of Solenoids And Electromagnets?
Both solenoids and electromagnets use electric current and coiled wires to produce strong magnetic fields. Solenoids – by running current through a wire which is wound into many loops, you strengthen the magnetic field in the center of the coil.
To summarize, an electromagnet is anything which has the ability to produce a magnetic field using electricity whereas a solenoid is a tightly wound coil, you can save that solenoid is a type of electromagnet.
