(Electro)magnetism of aluminum?

[battousai]

Is there any way to magnetize aluminum or at least repel aluminum in any way using electromagnetism? Could eddy currents somehow accomplish this efficiently?

[YT2095]

Alu can be used quite effectively in magnetic damping, in effect when brought into close contact with a moving magnet, currents are set up in the alu which in turn create their own magnetic field in opposition to the flux that created them, thus forcing resistance to the original moving magnet and slowing it down.

 

get a long alu tube (copper works as well) and slide a strong magnet down the middle of it, compare the time taken for it to hit the floor with that of a similar magnet in free fall.

[swansont]

Al is not going to become magnetized. You want the induced field to be in the opposite direction of the field you have in place, so it looks like the same poles of a magnet, which will repel. This is from Lenz's law (induced field opposes the change in the field), and explains the behavior that YT has described.

[battousai]

From my understanding of wikipedia, an ac induction motor induces a magnetic field in the rotor, and then it moves. So if one had a clear plastic can of aluminum shavings and placed the stator around the can, could observe a reaction in the aluminum shavings? Would they be rotating like the rotor would?