Demonstration of magnetic fields. Ace Photo Agency/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: pttmedical009603
Until I took physics in college, most of what I knew about magnetism centered around how well refrigerator magnets would stick to the door of my fridge. There were strong ones, and weak ones, and ones that had pictures of superman on them. And that is as far as it went. Which is kind of a shame because there are so many cool things about magnetism that I had no idea of.
Illustration of magnetic fields and how they attract. Yoav Levy/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: pttmedical009609
Cool thing #1. Magnets create magnetic fields. These fields run from the north pole of a magnet to the south pole. You can actually see it if you stick a magnet in with a bunch of iron filings like the picture above.
Cool thing #2. All magnets have a north and south pole. If you chop a magnet in half, you just get two identical magnets. Therefore, you will never find a magnet with just a south pole or just a north pole.
Illustration of the artists conception of the earths magnetic field. Carol and Mike Werner/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: pttmedical002499
Cool thing #3. The earth is basically a giant magnet. The liquid metal core thousands of miles below our feet spins which creates a magnetic field with a north and south pole.
Bubble chamber tracks showing the trajectories of charged particles. Phototake, Inc./Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: pttmedical015431
Cool thing #4. A magnetic field will make the path of any particle curve. That is how particle accelerators work- they smash together protons moving at ridiculously high speeds and then measure the radius of curvature from the shower of other random smaller particles that result from the collision. The curvature tells them what kind of particle they’re dealing with.
Liquid oxygen poured between strong electromagnets to show paramagnetism. Yoav Levy/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: pttmedical009938
Liquid oxygen poured between strong electromagnets to show paramagnetism. Yoav Levy/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: pttmedical009934
Cool thing #5. Many atoms if put into a magnetic field will align with the magnetic field or against it. (And they don’t have to be like iron or copper or the typical magnetic things.) This means you can pour liquid oxygen into a magnetic field and it will stay there, like in the pictures above. The much cooler application of this principle is that its possible to levitate living creatures, like frogs, with magnets. Which has actually been done before.
Photograph illustrating the magnetic effect of electromagnetism, here demonstrated by a battery, wires, a screw, and iron filings. Carol and Mike Werner/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: pttmedical013375
Cool thing #6. Electricity and magnetism are very inter-related. An electric current creates a magnetic field, and a magnetic field can create electric current. That is where the term “electromagnetism” and “electromagnet” comes from.
MAXWELL, James Clerk (Edinburgh ,1831-Cambridege, 1879). Scottish physicist. Noted for his work on magnetism and electricity. Album / Prisma/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: apaart190931
Cool thing #7. This guy, James Maxell, came up with four equations that describe all of electricity and magnetism, probably just to torture undergraduate physics students everywhere.
IRON FILING INSIDE THE MAGNETIC FIELD IS UNIFORM INSIDE THE SOLENOID WHILE NEAR THE ENDS OF THE SOLENOID AND OUTSIDE OF IT THE LINES OF FORCE ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE NEAR THE ENDS OF A BAR MAGNET. MAGNETISM LINES OF FORCE SOLENOID ELECTRIC CURRENT. Educational Images LTD / Custom Medical Stock Photo Custom Medical Stock Photo/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: cmsphoto057874
Cool thing #8. This is a special type of electromagnet called a solenoid. The current through the wires creates a uniform magnetic field pointed in one direction. An MRI machine is a solenoid, and this is how it works.
Iron Lady: The mother-of-one who is so magnetic metal objects stick to her for 45 MINUTES..It looks like an elaborate practical joke using some strategically placed double-sided tape..But these assortment of metal objects stay on Brenda Allison's skin because she has a heightened electromagnetic current running through her body, it is thought. ZUMA Press/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: zumawireworldphotosthree462674
And finally, cool thing #9. Apparently its possible for people to be magnetic? This women has more of an electromagnetic current than the average person and so basically is a living breathing magnet. Kind of crazy, right?
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