Magnetism arises from two types of motions of electrons in atoms—one is the motion of the electrons in

an orbit around the nucleus, similar to the motion of the planets in our solar system around the sun, and the
other is the spin of the electrons around its axis, analogous to the rotation of Earth about its own axis. The
orbital and the spin motion independently impart a magnetic moment on each electron causing each of them to
behave as a tiny magnet.

The magnetic moment of a magnet is defined by the rotational force experienced by it in a magnetic field of
unit strength acting perpendicular to its magnetic axis.

In a large fraction of the elements, the magnetic moment of the electrons cancel out because of the
Pauli Exclusion Principle, which states that each electronic orbit can be occupied by only two electrons of
opposite spin.

However, a number of so-called transition metal atoms, such as iron, cobalt, and nickel, have magnetic
moments that are not cancelled; these elements are, therefore, common examples of magnetic materials. In these
transition metal elements the magnetic moment arises only from the spin of the electrons.

In the rare earth elements (that begin with lanthanum in the sixth row of the periodic table of elements),
however, the effect of the orbital motion of the electrons is not cancelled, and hence both spin and orbital
motion contribute to the magnetic moment.

Examples of some magnetic rare earth elements are: cerium, neodymium, samarium, and europium. In addition
to metals and alloys of transition and rare earth elements, magnetic moments are also observed in a wide variety
of chemical compounds involving these elements. Among the common magnetic compounds are the metal
oxides, which are chemically bonded compositions of metals with oxygen.

Earth's geomagnetic field is the result of electric currents produced by the slow convective motion of its liquid
core in accordance with a basic law of electromagnetism which states that a magnetic field is generated by the
passage of an electric current. According to this model, Earth's core should be electrically conductive enough to
allow generation and transport of an electric current. The geomagnetic field generated will be dipolar in
character, similar to the magnetic field in a conventional magnet, with lines of magnetic force lying in
approximate planes passing through the geomagnetic axis. The principle of the compass needle used by the
ancient mariners involves the alignment of a magnetized needle along Earth's magnetic axis with the imaginary
south pole of the needle pointing towards the magnetic north pole of the earth. The magnetic north pole of Earth
is inclined at an angle of 11° away from its geographical north pole.

Why Magnets Stick

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A simplified view of an atom, with a nucleus and orbiting electrons

If you've read How Electromagnets Work, you know that an electrical

current moving through a wire creates a magnetic field. Moving electrical
charges are responsible for the magnetic field in permanent magnets as
well. But a magnet's field doesn't come from a large current traveling
through a wire -- it comes from the movement of electrons.

Many people imagine electrons as tiny particles that orbit an

atom's nucleusthe way planets orbit a sun. As quantum physicists currently
explain it, the movement of electrons is a little more complicated than that.
Essentially, electrons fill an atom's shell-like orbitals, where they behave as
both particles and waves. The electrons have a charge and a mass, as well
as a movement that physicists describe as spin in an upward or downward
direction. You can learn more about electrons in How Atoms Work.

Generally, electrons fill the atom's orbitals in pairs. If one of the electrons
in a pair spins upward, the other spins downward. It's impossible for both of
the electrons in a pair to spin in the same direction. This is part of a
quantum-mechanical principle known as the Pauli Exclusion Principle.

Even though an atom's electrons don't move very far, their movement is
enough to create a tiny magnetic field. Since paired electrons spin in
opposite directions, their magnetic fields cancel one another out. Atoms of
ferromagnetic elements, on the other hand, have several unpaired electrons
that have the same spin. Iron, for example, has four unpaired electrons with
the same spin. Because they have no opposing fields to cancel their
effects, these electrons have an orbital magnetic moment. The magnetic
moment is a vector -- it has a magnitude and a direction. It's related to both
the magnetic field strength and the torque that the field exerts. A whole
magnet's magnetic moments come from the moments of all of its atoms.
An iron atom and its four unpaired electrons

In metals like iron, the orbital magnetic moment encourages nearby atoms
to align along the same north-south field lines. Iron and other ferromagnetic
materials are crystalline. As they cool from a molten state, groups of atoms
with parallel orbital spin line up within the crystal structure. This forms the
magnetic domains discussed in the previous section.

You may have noticed that the materials that make good magnets are the
same as the materials magnets attract. This is because magnets attract
materials that have unpaired electrons that spin in the same direction. In
other words, the quality that turns a metal into a magnet also attracts the
metal to magnets. Many other elements are diamagnetic -- their unpaired
atoms create a field that weakly repels a magnet. A few materials don't
react with magnets at all.

This explanation and its underlying quantum physics are fairly complicated,
and without them the idea of magnetic attraction can be mystifying. So it's
not surprising that people have viewed magnetic materials with suspicion
for much of history. In the next section, we'll take a look at the powers
ascribed to magnets, as well as what they can and can't do.

MEASURING MAGNETS
You can measure magnetic fields using instruments like gauss meters, and
you can describe and explain them using numerous equations. Here are
some of the basics:

 Magnetic lines of force, or flux, are measured in Webers (Wb). In

electromagnetic systems, the flux relates to the current.

 A field's strength, or the density of the flux, is measured in Tesla

(T) or gauss (G). One Tesla is equal to 10,000 gauss. You can also
measure the field strength in Webers per square meter. In equations,
the symbol Brepresents field strength.

 The field's magnitude is measured in amperes per meter or oersted.

The symbol H represents it in equations.