What is a Magnet?
What is a Magnet?
1. Material that naturally or artificially attracts like iron, nickel or steel. 2. Person, place, or thing which exerts attraction: village which attracts tourists.
Magnetism is a force which attracts magnetic materials (ferromagnets), such as iron or nickel, while repelling non-magnetic ones like wood or plastic. It is caused by elementary particles spinning magnetic moments such as electrons. Ferromagnetic materials are particularly potent magnets because of their unpaired electron spins which align easily due to regularity of their atomic structures causing them to "spin up" or "spin down." Attraction between objects creates magnetic domains. Each magnetic domain exhibits different magnetic properties when measured along different axes - this is known as magnetic anisotropy. Magnets dipped in iron filings produce an intense magnetic field which is strongest at its ends - also known as poles. The poles always exist in pairs, with one pole being located towards geographical north known as the North Pole and the opposite south-facing pole known as South Pole. Like poles attract while unlike ones repel. A magnet's strength or magnetic field strength is measured in mega gauss-oersteds.