Frequently Asked Questions What does a magnet do?
Magnets do the following things: • Attract certain materials – such as iron, nickel, cobalt, certain steels and other alloys; • Exert an attractive or repulsive force on other magnets (opposite poles attract, like poles repel); • Have an effect on electrical conductors when the magnet and conductor are moving in relation to each other; • Have an effect on the path taken by electrically charged particles traveling in free space; • Based on these effects, magnets transform energy from one form to another, without any permanent loss of their own energy. Examples of magnet functions are: A. Mechanical to mechanical – such as attraction and repulsion. B. Mechanical to electrical – such as generators and microphones. C. Electrical to mechanical – such as motors, loudspeakers, charged particle deflection. D. Mechanical to heat – such as eddy current and hysteresis torque devices. E. Special effects – such as magneto-resistance, Hall effect devices, and magnetic resonance.
How permanent is a magnet’s strength?
If a magnet is stored away from power lines, other magnets, high temperatures, and other factors that adversely affect the magnet, it will retain its magnetism essentially forever. Modern magnet materials do lose a very small fraction of their magnetism over time. For samarium cobalt materials, for example, this has been shown to be less that 1% over a period of ten years.
What might affect a magnet’s strength? The factors can affect a magnet’s strength:
• Heat • Radiation • Strong electrical currents in close proximity to the magnet • Other magnets in close proximity to the magnet
Can a magnet that has lost its magnetism be re-magnetized?
Provided that the material has not been damaged by extreme heat, the magnet can be re-magnetized back to its original strength.
Can I make a magnet that I already have any stronger?
Once a magnet is fully magnetized, it cannot be made any stronger – it is “saturated.” In that sense, magnets are like buckets of water: once they are full, they can’t get any “fuller.”
Will a magnet with a 10 lb pull force lift a 10 lb object?
Not necessarily. The pull test is a laboratory test under ideal lab conditions. It is the breakaway force required to separate a given magnet from a flat 1018 steel plate. When lifting an object with a magnet, many factors can affect the ability of the magnet to lift a given weight. These factors include: surface finish of magnet & object, flatness of magnet & object, coating on either surface & acceleration of lifting motion. Consult our Technical Department for more information on lifting magnets.
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