Open AccessSurprising attraction of non-magnetic materials to magnets
Author(s) -
Tin Trung Vo,
Gerald H. Pollack
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of advances in physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2347-3487
DOI - 10.24297/jap.v14i2.7368
Subject(s) - magnet , attraction , paramagnetism , ferromagnetism , condensed matter physics , materials science , magnetic field , object (grammar) , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , computer science , artificial intelligence , philosophy , linguistics , quantum mechanics
We explored the effects of static magnetic fields on materials commonly classified as non-ferromagnetic and non-paramagnetic. By floating pieces of paper, wood, Teflon, and Nafion on different liquids and placing those objects near a neodymium magnet, we found that the objects moved consistently towards the magnet. As the distance between object and magnet diminished, the attraction strengthened. The results imply that objects currently classified as non-magnetic may in fact be at least weakly magnetic.