How Does a Magnet Work?
Magnetic Fields
A magnet is an object that attracts certain metals by use of it's magnetic field. These metals include iron, cobalt and nickel. The space around the magnet contains the magnetic field, which is created by the movement of negatively charged electrons. Electrons have mass, and a slight charge. In magnetic metals, the electrons are unpaired, and spin in the same direction, creating magnetic domains, or lines of force, that travel in the same direction.
Magnetic Lines of Force
The magnetic field of a magnet is the boundaries of it's magnetic lines of force. These are the north to south lines in a magnetic field. Magnetic lines of force always start at the north end of a magnet and end on the south end, just like the Earth's axis. Any magnet will set itself parallel to the lines of force, which is how compasses work, and why magnets repel or attract magnetic materials, depending on the north-south position of the magnetic lines of force.
Magnetic lines of force draw near each other when the come close to the north and south poles, or ends, of the magnetic, but grow farther from each other as they move away from the poles. They do not cross over each other.
Types of Magnets
There are three types of magnets. Hard, or permanent, magnets are just like their name, permanently magnetic. They make their own magnetic fields constantly. Soft, or temporary, magnets only create magnetic fields when they are under the influence of a hard magnet's field. They will continue producing a magnetic field for a short while after leaving the field of a permanent magnet.
Electromagnets are artificial magnets that create a magnetic field only when electricity travels through them. They are made with wire coils. When the electricity moves through them, electrons are created and their movement makes a magnetic field. The size of the field can be controlled by the amount of wire coils and the amount of electricity that is sent through them.
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