Solenoids and electromagnets technically are not the same thing, but people talk as if they are. A solenoid is just a coil of wire, but when you run a current through it, you create an electromagnet. Since this is by far the most useful application of a coil of wire. It’s not surprising that when you say the word ‘solenoid,’ people tend to assume you mean electromagnet. Electromagnets are particularly useful because, unlike regular magnets, they can be switched on and off, and strengthened by increasing the current flowing through them. It also refers to any device that converts electrical energy to mechanical energy using a solenoid. The device creates a magnetic field from an electric current and uses the magnetic field to create linear motion.

An electric field surrounds a lazy charge sitting on its couch, doing nothing. This makes sense, because it’s an electric charge, after all. But once that charge gets some motivation and goes for a run around the block, suddenly it produces a magnetic field. This might strike you as odd, and you wouldn’t be alone! As physicists figured out later, both fields are part of the same force of nature: electromagnetism. Because of this, we can create a magnet by simply running a current through a wire. When we run a current through a solenoid, however, we get a super-strong magnet because the magnetic field is concentrated inside the coil. This can be incredibly useful in our everyday lives.