I was wondering if Magnet Wire was necessary to pick up electromagnetic fields? I created a 20 gauge copper wire air inductor - or which I thought. I connected a 10K ohm before the air coiled inductor then a 330 ohm resistor to lit a led. The led lights dimly but when I move it closer to say a fridge magnet it doesn't brighten or dimmer more.

Would I have to use a Magnet Wire for this experiment or could it be a copper wire? The inductor has 9 turns in it but not really tightly spaced. What I want to do is detect the lowest amount of emf possible.

Thanks for the assistance!

 

Wire is wire, magnet wire isn't necessary to induce a magnetically coupled current into it. Factors will be the area of the loop, number of loops and strength of the magnetic field. You should maximize all these factors. You need constantly changing magnetic fields to produce constant current. Just moving the wire close to a magnet won't do anything. Also, you might not get enough voltage to light a LED. You might need something that detects a lower voltage.

 

could it be a copper wire?

Provided there is some insulation between the turns, you can use any wire you have.

 

I was at radio shack the other day and bought a FET 102 and placed a 1M Resistor on the gate side, after the resistor a 10 turned air coil then a antenna. What was strange was when I went by the microwave - the led lite up. It didn't respond much to my finger touching as it would without the 10 coil inductor. Would this be just a simple example of a electromagnetic detector?