Hans Christian Oersted:
Questions

1	How are scientific ideas shared? What methods are mentioned in the article?

2	What convinced Oersted that the ideas he had picked up on his European travels were incorrect?

3	Coulomb and Ampere said electricity and magnetism were not connected. Oersted insisted that they were. What arguments can you find that might have supported either side of the debate?

4	How did Oersted show that electricity and light were linked?

5	Imagine that you are Oersted giving his lecture. Would you have tried out his experiment in front of an audience? How do you think the audience responded?

6	Oersted's original experiment used a very fine wire. Why was this a mistake?

7	Oersted thought that his discovery of electromagnetism proved that all forces were connected. Is this idea still accepted?

Go to Teacher's Notes for more and answers to the Web activity.