H 1 Hydrogen 1.00794 | Periodic Table | He 2 Helium 4.002602 | |||||||||||||||
Li 3 Lithium 6.941 | Be 4 Beryllium 9.012182 | of the Elements | B 5 Boron 10.811 | C 6 Carbon 12.0107 | N 7 Nitrogen 14.0067 | O 8 Oxygen 15.9994 | F 9 Fluorine 18.9984032 | Ne 10 Neon 20.1797 | |||||||||
Na 11 Sodium 22.98976... | Mg 12 Magnesium 24.305 | mouse/touch for more information | Al 13 Aluminum 26.9815386 | Si 14 Silicon 28.0855 | P 15 Phosphorus 30.973762 | S 16 Sulfur 32.065 | Cl 17 Chlorine 35.453 | Ar 18 Argon 39.948 | |||||||||
K 19 Potassium 39.948 | Ca 20 Calcium 40.078 | Sc 21 Scandium 44.955912 | Ti 22 Titanium 47.867 | V 23 Vanadium 50.9415 | Cr 24 Chromium 51.9961 | Mn 25 Manganese 54.938045 | Fe 26 Iron 55.845 | Co 27 Cobalt 58.933195 | Ni 28 Nickel 58.6934 | Cu 29 Copper 63.546 | Zn 30 Zinc 65.38 | Ga 31 Gallium 69.723 | Ge 32 Germanium 72.63 | As 33 Arsenic 74.9216 | Se 34 Selenium 78.96 | Br 35 Bromine 79.904 | Kr 36 Krypton 83.798 |
Rb 37 Rubidium 85.4678 | Sr 38 Strontium 87.62 | Y 39 Yttrium 88.90585 | Zr 40 Zirconium 91.224 | Nb 41 Niobium 92.90628 | Mo 42 Molybdenum 95.96 | Tc 43 Technetium (98) | Ru 44 Ruthenium 101.07 | Rh 45 Rhodium 102.9055 | Pd 46 Palladium 106.42 | Ag 47 Silver 107.8682 | Cd 48 Cadmium 112.411 | In 49 Indium 114.818 | Sn 50 Tin 118.71 | Sb 51 Antimony 121.76 | Te 52 Tellurium 127.6 | I 53 Iodine 126.90447 | Xe 54 Xenon 131.293 |
Cs 55 Caesium 132.9054 | Ba 56 Barium 132.9054 | Hf 72 Hafnium 178.49 | Ta 73 Tantalum 180.94788 | W 74 Tungsten 183.84 | Re 75 Rhenium 186.207 | Os 76 Osmium 190.23 | Ir 77 Iridium 192.217 | Pt 78 Platinum 195.084 | Au 79 Gold 196.966569 | Hg 80 Mercury 200.59 | Ti 81 Thallium 204.3833 | Pb 82 Lead 207.2 | Bi 83 Bismuth 208.9804 | Po 84 Polonium (209) | At 85 Astatine (210) | Rn 86 Radon (222) | |
Fr 87 Francium (223) | Ra 88 Radium (226) | Rf 104 Rutherfordium (267) | Db 105 Dubnium (268) | Sg 106 Seaborgium (271) | Bh 107 Bohrium (272) | Hs 108 Hassium (270) | Mt 109 Meitnerium (276) | Ds 110 Darmstadium (281) | Rg 111 Roentgenium (280) | Cn 112 Copernicium (285) | Uut 113 Unutrium (284) | Uuq 114 Flerovium (289) | UuP 115 Ununpentium (288) | Lv 116 Livermorium (293) | Uus 117 Ununseptium (294) | Uuo 118 Ununoctium (294) | |
La 57 Lanthanum 138.90547 | Ce 58 Cerium 140.116 | Pr 59 Praseodymium 140.90765 | Nd 60 Neodymium 144.242 | Pm 61 Promethium (145) | Sm 62 Samarium 150.36 | Eu 63 Europium 151.964 | Gd 64 Gadolinium 157.25 | Tb 65 Terbium 158.92535 | Dy 66 Dysprosium 162.5 | Ho 67 Holmium 164.93032 | Er 68 Erbium 167.259 | Tm 69 Thulium 168.93421 | Yb 70 Ytterbium 173.054 | Lu 71 Lutetium 174.9668 | |||
Ac 89 Actinium (227) | Th 90 Thorium 232.03806 | Pa 91 Protactinium 231.0588 | U 92 Uranium 238.02891 | Np 93 Neptunium (237) | Pu 94 Plutonium (244) | Am 95 Americium (243) | Cm 96 Curium (247) | Bk 97 Berkelium (247) | Cf 98 Californium (251) | Es 99 Einstenium (252) | Fm 100 Fermium (257) | Md 101 Mendelevium (258) | No 102 Nobelium (259) | Lr 103 Lawrencium (262) |

Magnets are materials that produce a field that attracts or repels certain other materials without actually touching them. Natural magnets have been used and studied since at least 500 B.C. and new classes of man-made magnets have been developed as recently as the 1980s. Magnets are used for everything from sticking the grocery list to the refrigerator to generating electricity to levitating maglev trains.
Permanent Magnets
Permanent magnets are the most familiar type of magnets. They are referred to as permanent because once magnetized, they stay magnetized, at least to some degree, although some permanent magnets are affected by high temperatures or sudden falls. Some permanent magnets will lose strength over a certain temperature and eventually become demagnetized at extreme temperatures.
Types of Permanent Magnets
There are four materials used to make permanent magnets: ceramic or ferrite, alnico, neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) and samarium cobalt (SmCo). Ceramic or ferrite magnets are the most popular type of permanent magnets available, according to Magnet Man. Flexible magnets, such as the business-card type magnets often stuck to the front of fridges, are of this type and are produced by mixing a magnetic powder with a flexible binder. Alnico magnets, so named because they are a compound of aluminum, nickel and cobalt, were first developed in the 1940s. This type of magnet is easily demagnetized by other magnets or by being dropped, but functions at a higher temperature than all other permanent magnets. Neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) and samarium cobalt (SmCo) are both types of rare earth magnets and are the strongest of the permanent magnets. These types of magnets were developed in the 1970s and 1980s from the rare earth, or lanthanide series of the periodic table of elements, according to Magnet Man.
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Electromagnets
Electromagnets consist of a coil of wire wrapped around a metal core, usually made of iron. These materials, when not exposed to an electric current, create almost no magnetic field. However, when an electrical current is passed through the wire, a magnetic field is generated until the current is turned off. Unlike permanent magnets, the strength of the magnetic field of an electromagnet is adjustable by changing the amount of current passing through the wire. The polarity of the magnet can also be reversed by reversing the flow of electrical current.
Temporary Magnets
Paper clips, metal nails and other items made from soft iron can become magnetic when exposed to a magnetic field and will temporarily behave as magnets. If one paper clip is hung from a magnet, a second paper clip can be hung from the first. However, when the magnetic field is removed, the item will not retain its magnetic properties and the paper clips will not act as magnets when removed from the original source of the magnetic field.