What type of metals are magnetic

What Are Magnetic Metals? There are three main types of magnetic metals: ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and diamagnetic. Ferromagnetic Metals Ferromagnetic metals have the strongest attraction to metals. Paramagnetic Metals Paramagnetic metals are very weakly magnetic in comparison to ferromagnetic metals.

Diamagnetic Metals Instead of being strongly or weakly attracted to magnets, this type of metal is generally repelled by magnetic fields. Categories: Magnet Facts.

Posted By:. Paramagnetic metals also draw attention to magnets, though they attracted them in a very weak way. Diamagnetic materials, on the other hand, show a weak repulsion when placed near a magnet. Only ferromagnetic metals are considered truly magnetic.

Picture - Magnetic Metals vs Non Magnetic Metals please note that Aluminium and Copper do interact with changing magnetic fields List of Magnetic Metals Here are some of the most well-known magnetic metals. Some of them are always magnetic. Some materials like stainless steel, however, don't exhibit magnetic properties unless they have a certain chemical composition. Iron Ferromagnetic metals such as iron are extremely well-known. In fact, it is the strongest ferromagnetic metal.

Our planet receives its magnetic properties from it, and it makes up a substantial part of its core. The Earth therefore functions as a permanent magnet by itself.

There are many factors that contribute to iron's magnetism. In addition to its electron spin at the atomic level, its crystalline structure plays an important role as well. In the absence of this, iron would be a non-magnetic metal. Depending on the crystalline structure, iron has different properties. The alpha-FE structure of iron's body-centred cubic bcc structure makes it ferromagnetic.

Meanwhile, it does not display magnetism in face-centred cubic fcc gamma-Fe structures. The beta-Fe structure, for example, exhibits paramagnetic properties.

Picture - Iron filings in a magnetic field Nickel Nickel is also a popular magnetic metal with ferromagnetic properties. Its compounds are also found in the earth's core. Nickel has historically been used to make coins. Nickel is used today in batteries, coatings, kitchen equipment, phones, buildings, transportation, and jewellery.

Ferronickel, a key component of stainless steel, is manufactured from nickel. Nickel is also a component of Alnico magnets made of aluminium, nickel, and cobalt. Cobalt Cobalt is a ferromagnetic metal. Over the past years, cobalt has been used widely because of its excellent magnetic properties.

Cobalt can be used to make both soft and hard magnets. Compared to other soft magnets, cobalt-based magnets have a number of advantages. In particular, their saturation point is high, with Curie temperatures within the range of Cobalt alloys are used in hard disks, wind turbines, MRI machines, motors, actuators, and sensors.

Steel Due to its iron content, steel also exhibits ferromagnetic properties. Steel is attracted to magnets in most cases. It is also possible to create permanent magnets using steel. The steel grade EN C15D, for example, contains iron between This steel grade contains a high percentage of iron.

As a result, the ferromagnetic properties of iron transfer to steel. Stainless Steel Some stainless steels are magnetic and some are not. An alloy steel becomes a stainless steel by adding Chromium to the alloy. The composition and molecular structure results in ferritic and martensitic stainless steels are being magnetic. Austenitic steels, on the other hand, do not display ferromagnetic properties due to their molecular structure.

As a result, it can be used in MRI machines. It is the amount of nickel that is the main cause of the magnetic difference. Diamagnetic metals repel the magnet, though the force is typically very weak.

Ferromagnetic metals are strongly attracted by a magnetic force. The common ferromagnetic metals include iron, nickel, cobalt, gadolinium, dysprosium and alloys such as steel that also contain specific ferromagnetic metals such as iron or nickel.

Ferromagnetic metals are commonly used to make permanent magnets. A magnet will weakly attract paramagnetic metals such as magnesium, molybdenum and tantalum are weakly attracted to a magnetic force. The attractive force is about a million times weaker than the force attracting ferromagnetic materials; so you'll never feel the attraction from holding a magnet to a piece of magnesium, for example.

Only very sensitive scientific equipment can measure the weak force. Like an electric current, magnetism is caused by electrons at the elementary level. Electrons have spin, which creates a tiny magnetic dipole. When these spins are balanced, the net force is zero.

But in case of a large number of unpaired electrons, this infinitesimally small magnetic moment becomes large. As a result, it creates a noticeable magnetic field around the metal.

Electric current is also capable of creating magnetic fields and vice versa. When an electric current passes through a wire, it creates a circular magnetic field around the wire. Similarly, bringing a magnetic field near a good conductor of electricity, electric currents start flowing in the conductor.

This amazing relationship between electricity and magnetism has resulted in many ingenious devices and applications. There are various classifications for magnets. One way to differentiate magnetic metals from each other is by how long their properties are active. Using this as our basis, we can classify magnets as:. Permanent magnets produce a magnetic field due to their internal structure. They do not lose their magnetism easily. Permanent magnets are made of ferromagnetic materials that do not stop producing their magnetic field regardless of external influence.

Thus, they are stable against demagnetising forces. To understand permanent magnets, we must look at the internal structure of magnetic materials. A material displays magnetic properties when its domains are aligned in the same direction.

In ferromagnetic materials, the domains are perfectly aligned. There are various ways to align them but the most reliable method is to heat the magnet to a certain temperature. This temperature is different for materials and results in the permanent alignment of domains in one direction.

Temporary magnets, as the name suggests, only retain their magnetic properties under certain conditions. When these conditions are no longer present, they lose their magnetic fields.

Soft materials with low magnetic properties, such as annealed iron and steel, are examples of temporary magnets. They become magnetic in the presence of a strong magnetic field. They also portray low coercivity. You must have seen how paper clips get attached to each other when a permanent magnet is nearby.

Every paper clip becomes a temporary magnet attracting other paper clips in the presence of a magnetic field. Once the permanent magnet is taken away, the paper clips lose their magnetic properties. Electromagnets are magnets that produce magnetic fields when an electric current passes through them. They have various use-cases. For example, motors, generators, relays, headphones, etc. In electromagnets a coil of wire winds around a ferromagnetic core.

Connecting the wire to a source of electricity produces a strong magnetic field.