weeeman Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 I have recently purchased neodynium magnets and they are very powerful for their size. It got me wondering, what makes a magnet magnetic? Also, what makes something magnetic (eg. a paper clip)? Lastly, I was wondering what makes a mirror so reflective? Could it be that there is a tight pack of electron that are deflecting the photons and so acting like a mirror? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Ferromagnetism requires unpaired electrons and a material that can be physically set into domains where the magnetic fields from these electrons add together. The magnetic response of materials depends on their electron structure as well. The fields can either add to or subtract from the external field, i.e. you can get attraction or repulsion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetism Smooth metallic surfaces tend to reflect because the abundance of electrons free to respond to the EM field, as you surmised. (wikipedia link) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeeman Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thanks for the links. I will give them a read now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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