Attracting and repulsing – that is a magnet’s main properties.
- Magnets attract certain materials which are iron, nickel and cobalt (all of these make steel, therefore making steel magnetic).
- There are 3 types of magnets – permanent, which won’t lose it’s magnetic force; temporary, which can lose it’s magnetic force when jolted; and natural magnets, which is a naturally made magnet. Some magnets are stronger than others.
- The magnetic domains inside a steel object must be lined up to make the object magnetic. If the domains aren’t lined up, the domains will point in different directions, and won’t be magnetic.
- The Chinese discovered a natural magnet, called magnetite/lodestone.
- Putting a strong magnet near a device with a magnet in it (like a TV or PC) could destroy the device.
Magnet
Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti/ Free Digital Photos
- If you spread iron filings over a piece of paper which is over a magnet the filings move into the shape of the magnet’s magnetic field.
- Magnets have north and south poles. If a north pole meets a north pole, or vise versa, one magnet will be pushed away and this is called repulsion, and if a north and south pole meet, they attract.
- Maglev is short for the magnetic levatation which can suspend things in the air.
- Earth is a one gigantic magnet which traps solar flares from the sun in it’s magnetic field.
- Loggerhead turtles have magnetite/lodestone in their brains, and use these magnets to navigate back to their birthplace to lay eggs.
Bibliography:
Carmi, R 2001, Amazing Magnetism, Scholastic, New York
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