HS-PS2-5: Electric Currents and Magnetic Fields
Also called NGSS HS-PS2-5 · Topic: Forces and Interactions · Physical Science
The Official Wording
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current.
Assessment boundary: Assessment is limited to designing and conducting investigations with provided materials and tools.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What HS-PS2-5 Means in Plain English
Students plan and run tests showing that electricity and magnetism are linked both ways. A current in a wire turns a nearby compass needle, and a magnet moving in or out of a coil drives a current that a meter can detect.
Students design the tests themselves, but with wires, magnets, coils and meters their teacher supplies. The work builds on MS-PS2-3 and on fields in HS-PS2-4, and it explains how the generators students may build for HS-PS3-3 make electricity.
HS-PS2-5 I Can Statements
- I can show that a current in a wire makes a magnetic field.
- I can make a current by moving a magnet through a coil.
- I can plan a test that changes one variable at a time.
HS-PS2-5 Worked Example
A two-part investigation with a compass, a coil of wire and a galvanometer.
Can a current make magnetism, and can a moving magnet make a current?
Set It Up: A 1.5 V cell with a 10 ohm resistor and a switch, enameled copper wire, a compass, a bar magnet, and a 200-turn coil wired to a galvanometer.
- Lay the wire over the compass, lined up north to south, and close the switch for a second.Needle swings sideways, then returns
- Reverse the cell and close the switch again.Needle swings the other way
- Push the bar magnet into the coil.Galvanometer kicks one way while it moves
- Hold the magnet still inside the coil, then pull it out.Still: zero. Pulling out: kick the other way
- Repeat the push at a faster speed.Bigger kick
The current turned the compass needle, and the moving magnet drove current through the coil, but a magnet held still made none.
Why it works: Moving charges create a magnetic field, and a magnetic field that changes inside a coil pushes charges around the loop.
Common Mistakes with HS-PS2-5
Expecting a still magnet to make current
“The magnet is inside the coil, so why is the meter at zero?”
Try this: Current only flows while the field through the coil is changing. Move the magnet, or the coil, and watch the meter.
Leaving the circuit closed too long
A bare wire across a battery that gets hot in seconds
Try this: Add a resistor or tap the connection for one second at a time, which is enough to see the compass needle swing.
Changing speed and direction together
Pushing the magnet in fast, then pulling it out slowly
Try this: Test speed and direction separately. Same direction at two speeds shows the effect of speed, and same speed in two directions shows direction.
Where HS-PS2-5 Fits
Practice HS-PS2-5
Quick Check
- What happens to a compass near a wire when current starts flowing?
- A magnet sits still inside a coil. Is there a current?
- How can you make a bigger induced current?