How do electromagnets work in a doorbell

We're so glad you can check out our new look at Wonderopolis! What do you think!? We've got lots of cool new features You can also nominate your Wonder and it will be posted to the nominations board! How neat! Hey there, Maddy and Brittany! Thank you for sharing your comments today- we are glad you're here!

Doorbells are pretty cool to Wonder about, aren't they? Hey there, Zach! Thanks for telling us all about what you learned about doorbells today! You did a great job summarizing the purpose of doorbells, and how they work! Way to go! Chloe and Justin, way to go! You've both learned something new about doorbells- how they work, why they work, and what they do! Thanks for sharing your comments today! That's awesome, Matthew! Thank you for telling us about what you learned from our ringing Wonder!

We Wonder if you can build a doorbell of your own, with the help of your family and a doorbell circuit kit? Thanks for sharing your comment, Michael!

There are lots of wires, but the circuit is super cool to build! We Wonder if you have a doorbell at home? Hey there, Macy! Doorbells are just one example of a circuit. When you switch the lights on and off in your classroom, a circuit is involved, too!

Hey there, Alex V and Amme! Thanks for sharing your comments- you both did a spectacular job of summarizing what you learned from our Wonder! Do each of you have a doorbell at home? We bet it's helpful, especially when you're in the middle of doing something, like Amme mentioned.

Thanks for sharing what you learned about how a circuit works, Alex V! Hey there, Brooke! We are so glad you have even more Wonder questions-- nice work! McKenna and Mason, we're so glad you shared your comments with us! Doorbells are cool, and even though they look complicated, they are really fun to Wonder about! We're glad you used your imaginations to think about how you can customize your own doorbell, too! We bet you can listen to your favorite tune each time someone rings your doorbell!

It's so much fun to read your comments you shared! Thanks for summarizing what you learned and why doorbells are great! We think you rock! That's great to hear, Wonder Friend Sami! Thank you for telling us about what you learned and how excited you are to Wonder some more! We love learning about the science behind things! Great work! Thanks so much for telling us all about what you learned with us, Cindy! Doorbells are a very cool circuit, and we're glad they can alert us when someone is ringing at the front door!

Science rocks, just like you, Cindy! Hey there, Aubree! Thanks so much for telling us about the coolest part of our ringing Wonder! We look forward to seeing you soon, Wonder Friend! Great summary, Timothy! That's awesome to hear, Jenna Louise! We love when Wonders make us smile! We Wonder if you'll try to create a doorbell of your very own after this inspiring Wonder! Hey there, Wonder Friend ! We're so excited that you used the context clues to form your guess!

We think you're in for a delicious treat! Great guesses, Wonder Friend Harper! We Wonder if you know how to use chopsticks? They sure are tricky in the beginning! Hey there, Sebastian, we're so glad you liked today's Wonder! We hope it rang true! We are so glad you enjoyed today's Wonder, Kevin! Today's Wonder video was fun, but you're right, it was difficult to watch all at once!

Perhaps you can watch it again to better understand it! Tomorrow's Wonder is going to be a fun and delicious one! Hola, Wonder Friend Abby! We like thinking about how things work We love to know that our Wonder Friends enjoy our Wonders!

See you soon! That's awesome to hear, Natalie! Thank you for visiting us here at Wonderopolis today! What was your favorite part of this ringing Wonder?

Hey Max! Welcome back to Wonderopolis, buddy! We think you're in for a treat! Hey Sam, thanks for telling us all about what you learned today! Pack your bags-- we're going on an adventure! Hola, Ms. G's Class! We love your description of today's Wonder video! We bet you can create a cool doorbell sound as a class, or perhaps you can make your very own doorbell circuit! We think it would be funny to hear a duck quacking or a wolf howling when you ring a doorbell!

We think it would be extra special to have a holiday or birthday sound during different seasons. You did a great job summarizing what you learned today, Evan! Doorbells are full of wires and magnets, which creates the sound we hear after we ring the bell! We are so happy to read all the awesome observations, connections and thoughts from our Wonder Friends in Mrs.

Glover's K-Class! Chanelle, Alexandra, Tatum and Martin, we think it's cool that you've been comparing and contrasting doorbells today! Tomorrow's Wonder is going to be de-lish! Good morning, Mrs. Hess' Class! We're glad you're here! We Wonder if you have a circuit doorbell at home, or perhaps it's a electronic doorbell? It's cool to think about the connections we have with certain sounds, isn't it? If we hear a two-tone sound, we often think of a doorbell.

Our brains connect that sound with the idea of someone being at the door! Leslie and Briahna, we're glad you shared your connections. We hope you stay away from scary movies and focus on building cool contraptions! Hey there, great work, Annie ! We are glad to hear that you have been using context clues to form your predictions! You're right about the door, too! We have to go See you tomorrow, Wonder Friend! Can't wait to Wonder with you soon!

We are undergoing some spring clearing site maintenance and need to temporarily disable the commenting feature. Thanks for your patience. Drag a word to its definition. You have answered 0 of 3 questions correctly and your score is:. Want to add a little wonder to your website?

Help spread the wonder of families learning together. We sent you SMS, for complete subscription please reply. Follow Twitter Instagram Facebook. How does a doorbell work? What is an electromagnet?

What does a transformer do? Tags: See All Tags bell , buzzer , chime , circuit , coil , current , digital , door , doorbell , electricity , electromagnet , electronic , invention , magnetic , mechanism , megaphone , piston , science , technology , transformer , trigger , voltage.

Someone's at the front door! Wonder What's Next? Be careful! Try It Out Ding dong! It's Wonderopolis…and we have a whole set of activities for you to try out with a friend or family member: Do you have a doorbell at your house?

If not, find a friend or family member who does. If you can, find several different doorbells that you can test out. Do they all sound the same? How loud are their chimes? Do they all last the same amount of time? Compare the different doorbells you come across.

If possible, make a recording of the various sounds and then play them back for a friend or family member. Which one is their favorite? If you're up for a field trip, ask an adult to head to the hardware store with you to check out their selection of doorbells.

Can you find a really cheap model that you could buy and take home to test? Have fun examining all the inner parts of the doorbell. Do you see how all the parts work together to make the sound? If you can, hook up a power source, so you can watch the doorbell in action.

Have fun seeing how doorbells are engineered from the inside out! Up for a challenge? Imagine what life would be like without the doorbell. A simple door knocker might not be enough. With all the televisions, stereos, and video games in homes today, the puny sound of a door knocker would likely get lost in the sounds of the regular household. Today's mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with alternatives to the modern doorbell. What other devices or contraptions might work?

Your ideas can be as practical or as crazy as you want. Let your mind roam. Be creative. Use your imagination. How about a megaphone? You could just leave one on the front porch and whenever someone wants to come in, they can just shout through the megaphone at whoever is inside.

Do you see any drawbacks to such a system? If you want, draw or paint a picture of your alternative doorbell system. Did you get it? Test your knowledge. Wonder Words coil piston chime current digital electricity voltage buzzer circuit electromagnet transformer megaphone relatively mechanism interrupting integrated magnetic triggers Take the Wonder Word Challenge. Join the Discussion.

Leslie Mar 12, Dec 4, We're so glad you stopped by to Wonder with us, alohah! Alexis Nov 13, I am new here and I need help navigating this site.

If anyone wants to help, reply to this message please. Nov 15, Georgia Woon Aug 2, Some word that I do not know they say 'Definition not found' so it is really quite difficult. Aug 5, Vonny don bobby dons brother Jun 8, Jun 9, It's awesome of you to joined us at Wonderopolis, Vonny don! Aidan Sheehan Nov 3, Bobby don Jun 8, Thanks for joining the conversation, Bobby don! We hope you enjoyed this Wonder! Nov 4, Tyler Jarvis May 17, My Lord!

What happened to Wonderopolis? It Changed! Wonderopolis May 17, I wonder why a doorbell seems so complicated and I can't believe it takes 6 to 16 volts just to work!

Can you believe it? Wonderopolis May 16, Maddy May 16, I appreciate that doorbells help in peoples lives. What are wonders related to this one? Zach May 16, It takes volts just to work! A bell ring is a magnetic field that comes from the bell. By: Tom Harris. The core of a conventional doorbell is an electromagnet. If you've read How Electromagnets Work , you know that an electromagnet is a coil of wire, often wrapped around a piece of magnetic metal.

Electromagnets work on a very simple principle. Running electrical current through wire creates a very small magnetic field around the wire. Coiling the wire amplifies this magnetic field, so it has a substantial effect on any magnetic objects around it. Just like the magnetic field around a permanent magnet, the magnetic field of an electromagnet has a polar orientation -- a "north" end and and a "south" end -- and it is attracted to iron objects.

When you hold down a doorbell button, it closes an electrical circuit so that household current flows through the electromagnet or electromagnets by way of a transformer. The transformer is a simple device that takes the volt household current and steps it down to a volt current see Inside a Power-Cube Transformer to find out how.

This current is then passed through the electromagnet wire. The magnetic field of the electromagnet is put to work to drive some sort of a noisemaking apparatus. There are a number of different ways to configure the doorbell components in order to produce different sorts of noises.

In the next couple of sections, we'll look at three common systems: the buzzer , the bell and the chime.