Get to Know the History and Characteristics of Magnets – Who has loved playing magnets
since childhood? Or does Sinaumed’s like to be surprised to see a magnet stuck to the refrigerator
at home? Why can a magnet attract metal?
Can all types of metal be pulled? So that Sinaumed’s is no longer confused by seeing magnets that
like to attract or push each other, consider the following explanation.
History of Magnets
Derived from the name of a region in ancient Greece, the terms magnet, magnetism, and magnetic appeared
around the 600s BC. The word magnet itself is actually taken from the Greek “magnitis lithos”
which means magnesian stone.
In a region called Magnesia, the Greeks discovered a natural stone that strongly attracted iron.
The object was then given the name magnetite according to where it was found.
Until now the general public knows him as a magnet. After being observed, it turns out that
the ability of magnetite or magnets is able to attract objects around it with magnetic poles.
Since 4,500 years ago, the Chinese have used magnets in everyday life. The Chinese nation
itself initially used magnets as a therapeutic tool for doing acupuncture.
A biomagnetic inventor Michaell Faraday conducted research on magnetic healing. In addition,
the Chinese used magnets as directions or compasses.
Its use is relatively easy, at that time a compass was made by floating a magnetic needle on the surface of
the water. Since then, the use of magnets as a direction guide has continued to grow to
Europeans.
Objects that are able to attract other objects around them with special properties are called magnets.
Magnets can also be interpreted as any material that can attract iron metal. Each
magnet certainly has magnetic properties.
What is the property of magnetism? What is meant by magnetic properties is the magnetic force
with its ability to attract other objects around it. Magnets as we know them can be made of
iron, steel, or a mixture of other metals.
Magnets that can attract certain objects are often known as sembrani iron. The two ends of the
magnet have the strongest attraction and the center of the magnet has no magnetic attraction or is
neutral.
The two poles of such a strong magnet are called the positive pole and the negative pole. The
north pole of a magnet will always face north of Earth and the south pole of a magnet will always face south
of Earth. Hmm, why is that? It all happens because of the influence of the earth’s
strong magnetic field.
A leading English scientist discovered the earth’s magnetic field in 1600. The scientist put
forward a theory that the earth affects all magnetic bodies as a giant bar magnet.
Reporting from NASA, the earth’s core is in the form of a solid electromagnetic surrounded by a liquid core
(liquid nickel and iron) that conducts electric current. Well, an electric current in the
molten core will cause the Earth’s magnetic field to be strong. The magnetic field covers the
entire earth and outer space around it.
Illustration of a Magnet (source: m.tribunnews.com)
How many forms of magnet do you know? There are irregular shapes of magnets and some that have
been adjusted. Irregular magnets you can find in a mine. Meanwhile, customized
magnets are magnets that are made according to the needs.
Magnets come in various forms, namely bar magnets, horseshoe magnets, needle magnets, cylindrical magnets,
and ring magnets. As the name implies, bar magnets are magnets that are shaped like rods,
blocks, or small cubes.
Magnets of this shape are often used for door locks on glass cabinets and wooden cabinets. In
addition, Sinaumed’s can find magnets of this shape as covers for objects, such as gift boxes, pencil cases,
and so on.
Then the horseshoe magnet is a horseshoe-shaped magnet or a horse’s sole. This U-shaped magnet
is useful for lifting magnetic objects.
Furthermore, a needle magnet is a flat magnet, elongated, and tends to be sharp. Magnets of
this shape are often used as compass directions.
A cylindrical magnet will appear round and flat. Magnets of this shape are almost similar to
bar magnets. Cylinder magnets are commonly used for glass cabinet door locks, wooden cabinets,
pencil case covers, gift box covers, and so on.
While the ring magnet has a circular shape with a hole in the middle. Magnets of this shape
are often used in making loudspeakers or speakers on radios, cinemas and cell phones.
In addition, ring magnets are also commonly used in electric motor engines. Despite being made
in a variety of sizes, shapes, and strengths, magnets always have two poles. The existence of
the two poles (north and south) is inseparable from the existence of a magnetic domain .
Sinaumed’s must have often wondered, where do magnets actually come from? When viewed based on
its origin, magnets are divided into natural magnets and artificial magnets. Let’s discuss them
one by one.
First, scientifically created natural magnets have had magnetic properties since they were discovered.
This type of magnet is usually in the form of rocks that have permanent properties.
When found, this naturally formed magnet already has the ability to attract objects around it.
Second, artificial magnets are one of the man-made magnets.
The ever-increasing need for magnets has driven the manufacture of magnets. Over time, humans
began to be able to make artificial magnets. These magnets are made of strong magnetic
materials such as steel and iron.
Characteristics and Properties of Magnets
Magnets of any shape and type will always exhibit the same properties. The overall nature of
the magnet becomes a natural law that applies to all types of magnets.
Magnets with all their properties have been widely used by humans in everyday life. Then, what
are the properties of magnets? How is it implemented? Check out the following
review to the end, OK?
1. Can Attract Other Objects
You must be very familiar with the nature of this one magnet. The first characteristic of a
magnet is its ability to attract other objects around it. However, keep in mind that not all
objects can be attracted by a magnet.
Objects that can be attracted are only objects that have magnetic potential or are often known as magnetic
objects. Whether or not an object is attracted by a magnet is classified into three types,
namely ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and diamagnetic.
- Ferromagnetic
Materials with ferromagnetic properties are strongly attracted by magnets, such as iron, steel, nickel and
cobalt. If you have a ferromagnetic type of object close to a magnet, the magnet will attract
it very strongly.
- Paramagnetic
Paramagnets are objects that have a weak magnetic attraction, such as aluminum, copper, tungsten, and platinum.
- Diamagnetic
Objects with diamagnetic properties cannot be attracted by a magnet at all, such as plastic, wood, and
gold. Diamagnetic are objects that repel magnets despite being very close to such a strong
magnet.
Through the explanation above, Sinaumed’s can see that objects that can be attracted by magnets are objects
with ferromagnetic (strong attraction) and paramagnetic (weak attraction) types. In everyday
life the magnetic properties that can attract other objects have been widely applied, for example in lifting
equipment and refrigerator doors that can be closed tightly.
2. Always Point North and South
The magnet known as celestial iron has a tendency to always point north and south. If Sinaumed’s
freely hangs a magnet by a string, the magnet will point north and south.
Why is that? As previously explained, the reason is none other than because magnets are
directly related to the earth’s magnetism. As is known, the earth is seen as a magnet that has
two poles with a force of attraction between the magnet and the poles of the earth.
3. Always Have Two Poles
The third property, magnets always have two poles, namely north and south. That’s where the
magnetic force appears so strong. Whatever the shape or size of the magnet, these poles always
exist in pairs and are inseparable.
Even if it is cut into smaller pieces, the two poles will never disappear. If Sinaumed’s cuts a
bar magnet in half, the magnet will form two new poles.
Illustration of a Cut Magnet (source: physics.co.id)
4. Common Name Poles Repel and
Non-Name Poles Attract
Another magnetic property is that common poles (north-north or south-south) will repel and unlike poles
(north-south) will attract. The force of repulsion and attraction of the magnetic poles occurs
because they are in a magnetic field.
What is a magnetic field? The magnetic field is an area or room around a magnet that has a
magnetic influence in the form of repulsion or attraction. The strength of the magnetic field
is often indicated by lines of force leaving the north pole and lines of force entering the
south pole .
Illustration of Magnetic Repulsion (source: physics.co.id)
Illustration of Magnetic Attraction (source: physics.co.id)
If the two north poles are brought closer to each other, there will be a repulsive force because the
lines of force will not enter the other north pole. Vice versa, if you replace it with a
south pole ( south) the line of force coming out of the north pole will go straight
to the south pole.
It can be said that a magnet consists of small magnets that line up from the north pole towards the south
pole. Instead, the south pole will face the magnetic north pole.
These small magnets are often referred to as elementary magnets. In its application, this
magnetic property can be seen in maglev or magnetically levitated fast trains. The train will
move by floating a few mm above the rail due to the repulsive force between the rail and the train
base.
5. The Biggest Magnetic Force is at the Two
Poles
The latter property, magnets have the greatest repulsion or attraction force at the two poles.
Generally, the two poles are located at the ends of the magnet. The two poles are
believed to hold the greatest magnetic force.
Why so? Again, this is caused by the magnetic field lines of force leaving the north pole and
entering the south pole. The other parts of the magnetic body still have a force, it’s just
that the portion is smaller than the force that these two poles have.
The following are the conclusion points from the properties of magnets.
- Has the ability to attract other objects.
- Always point north and south.
- Always has two poles in pairs, namely north and south.
- Common poles repel each other and unlike poles attract each other.
- The greatest magnetic force is located at the two poles.
Well, now Sinaumed’s understands the meaning of magnets and their properties , right?
It turns out that magnets have an inseparable north pole and south pole. So, don’t
be surprised if there is a tug-of-war or repulsion between the magnet and certain objects.