Magnetic Materials

Materials respond differently to the force of a magnetic field. A magnet will strongly
attract ferromagnetic materials, weakly attract paramagnetic materials, and weakly repel
diamagnetic materials. The orientation of the spin of the electrons in an atom, the
orientation of the atoms in a molecule or alloy, and the ability of domains of atoms or
molecules to line up are the factors that determine how a material responds to a magnetic
field. Ferromagnetic materials have the most magnetic uses. Diamagnetic materials are
used in magnetic levitation and MRI.

Ferromagnetic materials
Ferromagnetic materials are strongly attracted by a magnetic force. The elements iron
(Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and gadolinium (Gd) are such materials. (See the Periodic
Table in the Chemistry section for more information.)

The reasons these metals are strongly attracted are because their individual atoms have a
slightly higher degree of magnetism due to their configuration of electrons, their atoms
readily line up in the same magnetic direction, and the magnetic domains or groups of
atoms line up more readily.

Iron and steel

Iron is the most common element associated with being attracted to to a magnet. Steel is
also a ferromagnetic material. It is an alloy or combination of iron and several other
metals, giving it greater hardness than iron, as well as other specialized properties.
Because of its hardness, steel retains magnetism longer than iron.

Permanent magnets

Alloys of iron, nickel, cobalt, gadolinium and certain ceramic materials can become
"permanent" magnets, such that they retain their magnetism for a long time.

Temperature effect

Strongly magnetic ferromagnetic materials like nickel or steel lose all their magnetic
properties if they are heated to a high enough temperature. The atoms become too excited
by the heat to remain pointing in one direction for long.

The temperature at which a metal loses its magnetism is called the Curie temperature, and
it is different for every metal. The Curie temperature for nickel, for example, is about
350°C.

Paramagnetic materials
Uses

Although the forces created by diamagnetism are extremely weak--millions of times

smaller than the forces between magnets and ferromagnetic materials like iron, there are
some interesting uses of those materials.

Levitation

The most popular application of diamagnetic materials is magnetic levitation, where an

object will be made to float in are above a strong magnet. Although most experiments use
inert objects, researchers as the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands demonstrated
levitating a small frog in a powerful magnetic field.

Levitated Frog

MRI

Another important application of diamagnetic materials is magnetic resonance imaging

(MRI). In this useful diagnostic tool in medicine. The way it works is that when carbon-
based atoms in the body are exposed to a strong magnetic field, they are slightly repelled
by the field. This movement of the atoms can be detected and used for analysis.

Summary
Magnets will strongly attract ferromagnetic materials, weakly attract paramagnetic
materials, a nd weakly repel diamagnetic materials. Ferromagnetic materials have the
most magnetic uses. Diamagnetic materials are used in magnetic levitation and MRI.