I’ve heard it said that only ferrous metals are attracted to magnets, or can become permanently magnetized. I don’t get it. :c
In: Chemistry
There’s a reason it’s “ferrous metals” and not just “iron” — the other metals in a similar place on the periodic table are also ferromagnetic.
Essentially, it comes down to two things: the element must have electrons in the outer shell that it can give up easily (hence, be a metal) and have a molecular structure such that when in solid form, the metal can align its molecules such that the north and south magnetic poles can align.
Essentially, it has to be able to be magnetic not just at the macro level but also at the molecular level.
Since the majority of metals don’t have this molecular property, they cannot reinforce a magnetic field, but instead damp out the effect by having randomly or crystally aligned molecules.
First off, “ferrous metals” ≠ “iron”, there are other ferrous metals.
The term “ferrous metal” means “magneticly interactive”, so the definition covers the behavior you see. There are actually 5 groups:
1. Diamagnetism = little effect from magnetic fields
2. Paramagnetism = have magnetic properties in a magnetic field, but can’t be permanently magnetized
3. Ferromagnetism = the one you’re describing, can be made magnetic
4. Ferrimagnetism = magnetic oxides have this effect, so you can make a tiny part N->S magnetic and the next part S->N magnetic and they don’t change each other
5. Antiferromagnetism = these block magnetic fields
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