Magnetism is a class of physical phenomena that includes forces exerted by magne ts on other magnets.

It has its origin in electric currents and the fundamental magnetic moments of elementary particles. These give rise to a magnetic field th at acts on other currents and moments. All materials are influenced to some exte nt by a magnetic field. The strongest effect is on permanent magnets, which have persistent magnetic moments caused by ferromagnetism. Most materials do not hav e permanent moments. Some are attracted to a magnetic field (paramagnetism); oth ers are repulsed by a magnetic field (diamagnetism); others have a much more com plex relationship with an applied magnetic field (spin glass behavior and antife rromagnetism). Substances that are negligibly affected by magnetic fields are kn own as non-magnetic substances. They include copper, aluminium, gases, and plast ic. Pure oxygen exhibits magnetic properties when cooled to a liquid state. The magnetic state (or phase) of a material depends on temperature (and other va riables such as pressure and the applied magnetic field) so that a material may exhibit more than one form of magnetism depending on its temperature, etc.

Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Sources of magnetism 3 Topics 3.1 Diamagnetism 3.2 Paramagnetism 3.3 Ferromagnetism 3.3.1 Magnetic domains 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 4 5 6 7 Antiferromagnetism Ferrimagnetism Superparamagnetism Electromagnet Other types of magnetism

Magnetism, electricity, and special relativity Magnetic fields in a material Force due to magnetic field - The magnetic force Magnetic dipoles 7.1 Magnetic monopoles

8 Quantum-mechanical origin of magnetism 9 Units of electromagnetism 9.1 SI units related to magnetism 9.2 Other units 10 11 12 13 14 Living things See also References Further reading External links

History[edit] Main article: History of electromagnetism Aristotle attributed the first of what could be called a scientific discussion o n magnetism to Thales of Miletus, who lived from about 625 BC to about 545 BC.[1 ] Around the same time, in ancient India, the Indian surgeon, Sushruta, was the first to make use of the magnet for surgical purposes.[2] In ancient China, the earliest literary reference to magnetism lies in a 4th-cen tury BC book named after its author, The Master of Demon Valley (???): "The lode stone makes iron come or it attracts it."[3] The earliest mention of the attract

ion of a needle appears in a work composed between AD 20 and 100 (Louen-heng): " A lodestone attracts a needle."[4] The Chinese scientist Shen Kuo (1031 1095) was the first person to write of the magnetic needle compass and that it improved th e accuracy of navigation by employing the astronomical concept of true north (Dr eam Pool Essays, AD 1088), and by the 12th century the Chinese were known to use the lodestone compass for navigation. They sculpted a directional spoon from lo destone in such a way that the handle of the spoon always pointed south. Alexander Neckam, by 1187, was the first in Europe to describe the compass and i ts use for navigation. In 1269, Peter Peregrinus de Maricourt wrote the Epistola de magnete, the first extant treatise describing the properties of magnets. In 1282, the properties of magnets and the dry compass were discussed by Al-Ashraf, a Yemeni physicist, astronomer, and geographer.[5]

Michael Faraday, 1842 In 1600, William Gilbert published his De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on the Great Ma gnet the Earth). In this work he describes many of his experiments with his mode l earth called the terrella. From his experiments, he concluded that the Earth w as itself magnetic and that this was the reason compasses pointed north (previou sly, some believed that it was the pole star (Polaris) or a large magnetic islan d on the north pole that attracted the compass). An understanding of the relationship between electricity and magnetism began in 1819 with work by Hans Christian Oersted, a professor at the University of Copen hagen, who discovered more or less by accident that an electric current could in fluence a compass needle. This landmark experiment is known as Oersted's Experim ent. Several other experiments followed, with Andr-Marie Ampre, who in 1820 discov ered that the magnetic field circulating in a closed-path was related to the cur rent flowing through the perimeter of the path; Carl Friedrich Gauss; Jean-Bapti ste Biot and Flix Savart, both of which in 1820 came up with the Biot-Savart Law giving an equation for the magnetic field from a current-carrying wire; Michael Faraday, who in 1831 found that a time-varying magnetic flux through a loop of w ire induced a voltage, and others finding further links between magnetism and el ectricity. James Clerk Maxwell synthesized and expanded these insights into Maxw ell's equations, unifying electricity, magnetism, and optics into the field of e lectromagnetism. In 1905, Einstein used these laws in motivating his theory of s pecial relativity,[6] requiring that the laws held true in all inertial referenc e frames. Electromagnetism has continued to develop into the 21st century, being incorpora ted into the more fundamental theories of gauge theory, quantum electrodynamics, electroweak theory, and finally the standard model. Sources of magnetism[edit] See also: Magnetic moment Magnetism, at its root, arises from two sources: 1.Electric current (see electron magnetic dipole moment). The other sources of m agnetism are the nuclear magnetic moments of the nuclei in the material which ar e typically thousands of times smaller than the electrons' magnetic moments, so they are negligible in the context of the magnetization of materials. Nuclear ma gnetic moments are very important in other contexts, particularly in nuclear mag netic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Ordinarily, the enormous number of electrons in a material are arranged such tha t their magnetic moments (both orbital and intrinsic) cancel out. This is due, t o some extent, to electrons combining into pairs with opposite intrinsic magneti c moments as a result of the Pauli exclusion principle (see electron configurati on), or combining into filled subshells with zero net orbital motion. In both ca ses, the electron arrangement is so as to exactly cancel the magnetic moments fr om each electron. Moreover, even when the electron configuration is such that th ere are unpaired electrons and/or non-filled subshells, it is often the case tha t the various electrons in the solid will contribute magnetic moments that point in different, random directions, so that the material will not be magnetic. However, sometimes either spontaneously, or owing to an applied external magneti c field each of the electron magnetic moments will be, on average, lined up. The n the material can produce a net total magnetic field, which can potentially be quite strong. The magnetic behavior of a material depends on its structure, particularly its e lectron configuration, for the reasons mentioned above, and also on the temperat ure. At high temperatures, random thermal motion makes it more difficult for the electrons to maintain alignment. Topics[edit]

Hierarchy of types of magnetism.[7] Diamagnetism[edit] Main article: Diamagnetism Diamagnetism appears in all materials, and is the tendency of a material to oppo se an applied magnetic field, and therefore, to be repelled by a magnetic field. However, in a material with paramagnetic properties (that is, with a tendency t o enhance an external magnetic field), the paramagnetic behavior dominates.[8] T hus, despite its universal occurrence, diamagnetic behavior is observed only in a purely diamagnetic material. In a diamagnetic material, there are no unpaired electrons, so the intrinsic electron magnetic moments cannot produce any bulk ef fect. In these cases, the magnetization arises from the electrons' orbital motio ns, which can be understood classically as follows: When a material is put in a magnetic field, the electrons circling the nucleus w ill experience, in addition to their Coulomb attraction to the nucleus, a Lorent z force from the magnetic field. Depending on which direction the electron is or biting, this force may increase the centripetal force on the electrons, pulling them in towards the nucleus, or it may decrease the force, pulling them away fro m the nucleus. This effect systematically increases the orbital magnetic moments that were aligned opposite the field, and decreases the ones aligned parallel t o the field (in accordance with Lenz's law). This results in a small bulk magnet ic moment, with an opposite direction to the applied field. Note that this description is meant only as an heuristic; a proper understanding requires a quantum-mechanical description. Note that all materials undergo this orbital response. However, in paramagnetic and ferromagnetic substances, the diamagnetic effect is overwhelmed by the much stronger effects caused by the unpaired electrons. Paramagnetism[edit]

Main article: Paramagnetism In a paramagnetic material there are unpaired electrons, i.e. atomic or molecula r orbitals with exactly one electron in them. While paired electrons are require d by the Pauli exclusion principle to have their intrinsic ('spin') magnetic mom ents pointing in opposite directions, causing their magnetic fields to cancel ou t, an unpaired electron is free to align its magnetic moment in any direction. W hen an external magnetic field is applied, these magnetic moments will tend to a lign themselves in the same direction as the applied field, thus reinforcing it. Ferromagnetism[edit]

A permanent magnet holding up several coins Main article: Ferromagnetism A ferromagnet, like a paramagnetic substance, has unpaired electrons. However, i n addition to the electrons' intrinsic magnetic moment's tendency to be parallel to an applied field, there is also in these materials a tendency for these magn etic moments to orient parallel to each other to maintain a lowered-energy state . Thus, even when the applied field is removed, the electrons in the material ma intain a parallel orientation. Every ferromagnetic substance has its own individual temperature, called the Cur ie temperature, or Curie point, above which it loses its ferromagnetic propertie s. This is because the thermal tendency to disorder overwhelms the energy-loweri ng due to ferromagnetic order. Some well-known ferromagnetic materials that exhibit easily detectable magnetic properties (to form magnets) are nickel, iron, cobalt, gadolinium and their allo ys. Magnetic domains[edit]

Magnetic domains in ferromagnetic material. Main article: Magnetic domains The magnetic moment of atoms in a ferromagnetic material cause them to behave so mething like tiny permanent magnets. They stick together and align themselves in to small regions of more or less uniform alignment called magnetic domains or We iss domains. Magnetic domains can be observed with a magnetic force microscope t o reveal magnetic domain boundaries that resemble white lines in the sketch. The re are many scientific experiments that can physically show magnetic fields.

Effect of a magnet on the domains. When a domain contains too many molecules, it becomes unstable and divides into two domains aligned in opposite directions so that they stick together more stab ly as shown at the right.

When exposed to a magnetic field, the domain boundaries move so that the domains aligned with the magnetic field grow and dominate the structure as shown at the left. When the magnetizing field is removed, the domains may not return to an u nmagnetized state. This results in the ferromagnetic material's being magnetized , forming a permanent magnet. When magnetized strongly enough that the prevailing domain overruns all others t o result in only one single domain, the material is magnetically saturated. When a magnetized ferromagnetic material is heated to the Curie point temperature, t he molecules are agitated to the point that the magnetic domains lose the organi zation and the magnetic properties they cause cease. When the material is cooled , this domain alignment structure spontaneously returns, in a manner roughly ana logous to how a liquid can freeze into a crystalline solid. Antiferromagnetism[edit]

Antiferromagnetic ordering Main article: Antiferromagnetism In an antiferromagnet, unlike a ferromagnet, there is a tendency for the intrins ic magnetic moments of neighboring valence electrons to point in opposite direct ions. When all atoms are arranged in a substance so that each neighbor is 'antialigned', the substance is antiferromagnetic. Antiferromagnets have a zero net m agnetic moment, meaning no field is produced by them. Antiferromagnets are less common compared to the other types of behaviors, and are mostly observed at low temperatures. In varying temperatures, antiferromagnets can be seen to exhibit d iamagnetic and ferrimagnetic properties. In some materials, neighboring electrons want to point in opposite directions, b ut there is no geometrical arrangement in which each pair of neighbors is anti-a ligned. This is called a spin glass, and is an example of geometrical frustratio n. Ferrimagnetism[edit]

Ferrimagnetic ordering Main article: Ferrimagnetism Like ferromagnetism, ferrimagnets retain their magnetization in the absence of a field. However, like antiferromagnets, neighboring pairs of electron spins like to point in opposite directions. These two properties are not contradictory, be cause in the optimal geometrical arrangement, there is more magnetic moment from the sublattice of electrons that point in one direction, than from the sublatti ce that points in the opposite direction. Most ferrites are ferrimagnetic. The first discovered magnetic substance, magnet ite, is a ferrite and was originally believed to be a ferromagnet; Louis Nel disp roved this, however, after discovering ferrimagnetism. Superparamagnetism[edit] Main article: Superparamagnetism

When a ferromagnet or ferrimagnet is sufficiently small, it acts like a single m agnetic spin that is subject to Brownian motion. Its response to a magnetic fiel d is qualitatively similar to the response of a paramagnet, but much larger. Electromagnet[edit] An electromagnet is a type of magnet whose magnetism is produced by the flow of electric current. The magnetic field disappears when the current ceases.

Electromagnets attracts paper clips when current is applied creating a magnetic field. The electromagnet loses them when current and magnetic field are removed . Other types of magnetism[edit] Molecular magnet Metamagnetism Molecule-based magnet Spin glass Magnetism, electricity, and special relativity[edit] Main article: Classical electromagnetism and special relativity As a consequence of Einstein's theory of special relativity, electricity and mag netism are fundamentally interlinked. Both magnetism lacking electricity, and el ectricity without magnetism, are inconsistent with special relativity, due to su ch effects as length contraction, time dilation, and the fact that the magnetic force is velocity-dependent. However, when both electricity and magnetism are ta ken into account, the resulting theory (electromagnetism) is fully consistent wi th special relativity.[6][9] In particular, a phenomenon that appears purely ele ctric to one observer may be purely magnetic to another, or more generally the r elative contributions of electricity and magnetism are dependent on the frame of reference. Thus, special relativity "mixes" electricity and magnetism into a si ngle, inseparable phenomenon called electromagnetism, analogous to how relativit y "mixes" space and time into spacetime.