Why does nickel make steel non-magnetic? I read that it changes the crystal structure, but what does that have to do with magnetism?
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Steel has two kinds of crystal structures (mainly), one is magnetic (ferrite) and one is not (austenite). Crystal structures are patterns of arrangement. The way ferrite is arranged, the atoms electrons line up in such a way that allow them to maintain magnetism due to some quantum effects. Arranging atoms in austenite patterns means different spacingd and sharing of electrons, and they dont achieve this special quality allowing for magnetism
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