Sunday, March 8, 2009

Magnets

We recently started on a new chapter in physics dealing with magnets. We've learned what a magnet is made up of and the physics behind its properties. I wanted to take a picture of a magnet attached to my refrigerator because it best shows the reason why magnets are able to stick to certain household items.


A magnet is an object that creates a magnetic field and exerts a magnetic force. The magnetic field formed in magnets is due to ferromagnetism. In ferromagnetism, the magnetic dipoles of atoms within a material align in the same direction, this is called exchange coupling. Due to an external magnetic field, the dipoles stay aligned and a magnet is created.



Domains or dipoles can easily be disaligned if the ferromagnetic material is exposed to heat or dropped on the ground.

1 comment:

Jaimie Fong said...

that's a really cool magnet! :) i love stars.

super informative, cara <3.