Science · 6 pages · 12 min
How a magnet sticks to a fridge
The magnet grips steel because the steel's magnetic domains line up.
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From the opening
A magnet sticks to a fridge because the door is steel, and steel is ferromagnetic. The magnet's field lines up small magnetic regions inside the steel, and the two then pull on each other. The opening covers domains that line up in steel, why some metals do nothing, and why a small gap lets go.
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Inside
- Domains that line up in steel
- Why some metals do nothing
- Why a small gap lets go
- Borrowed magnetism in a paper clip
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Ferromagnetism and magnetic domains
- The split between ferromagnetic alloys and nonmagnetic metals