Magnets

A magnet is usually a substance or an item which can generate a magnetic field around its surroundings.

They can attract various ferromagnetic substances like the iron. They also have a property of repelling when they are kept with other magnets.

There are different varieties of magnets in different shapes and sizes available for both used in home and industries.

What are the various types of magnets available?

There are three main types of magnets which are temporary magnets, permanent magnets and electromagnets. Permanent magnets are used in everyday life like that in the refrigerator. They are generated when a magnetic substance has a prolong magnetic field. They retain the degree of magnetism.

Temporary magnets are those magnets which acts like a permanent magnet only when they are place inside a strong field of magnetism. But they lose their magnetism as soon as the field disappears. Soft iron nails and paperclips are the common examples of the temporary magnets.

Electromagnets are those magnets which contains an iron core usually surrounded by coils of wire. When current flows through the wire, it acts as a permanent magnet. The polarity and the strength of a magnet generated by the electromagnet can be adjusted by varying the strength of the current which flows through the wire.

It is also depended on the alteration of the direction of the flow of the current.

What are the uses of the magnets?

There are different applications of magnets in various fields. They are used in the common items used at home to complicated devices in industry. They are very important in everybody’s life and are pretty useful.

They are used widely in cassettes, hard disk and floppy disks. In industries they are used as separators, pullers, sweepers, welding and conveyors. ATM cards, debit cards and credits also uses magnet which is used in the magnetic strips.  This magnetic strip helps in encoding the details about a particular individual about his bank details and account.

They are also widely used in microphones and speakers. In the health sector, magnets are used in MRI where various different organs of the human body is scanned for surgical reasons.  They are used in many jewelry objects like earrings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants.

Magnets are also used extensively in many magnetic therapy equipments which include magnetic massager, magnetic waist belts, magnetic mattresses, knee magnets and many others. Generators and electronic motors widely use the magnet.