Choosing a material to use to respond to an electromagnetic field.

[dannygrogan]

Hello everyone.

I have just bought a small 12 volt electromagnet which i want to use to 'pull' an object suspended in liquid towards it to give the impression that the object is alive. I was just wondering what would be the best material to ebed inside the object(which will be made of silicon). The fist material which comes to mind is iron but im aware that there are other materials which are affected by a magnetic field.

Is iron the most responsive to a magnetic field and so be the material to choose? I dont want anything too heavy either as this would impair the buoyancy and slow down the kind movement which i am looking for.

Thanks very much for any possible replies,

Dan.

 

[DrP]

How about a very small neodymium magnet? They are light and powerful. A magnet will be more responsive than any metal.

[Klaynos]

How about a very small neodymium magnet? They are light and powerful. A magnet will be more responsive than any metal.

I'd agree with that. If you need it to not be a permanent magnet though I'd look at permalloy which is a nickel iron alloy.