Magnetism For The 21st Century And Beyond
If you do not remember learning about magnets in the fourth grade then you probably have never heard of rare earth magnets. These types of magnets are not rare in the traditional sense, but rather they are alloys fashioned from some of Earth?s common elements, such as iron, boron, and cobalt. They were originally developed in the 1970?s and 1980?s. They are stronger than all other permanent magnets, and their magnetic field is almost twice as intense as any other magnet found today. However, they tend to be very fragile, and they oxidize just as easily. Therefore, they are often coated with gold or nickel for protection.
All magnets, including rare earth magnets, are created when their electrons line up in the same direction creating a single magnetic field that surrounds the entire object. Most magnets used everyday, such as horseshoe and bar magnets are permanent magnets, as are rare earth magnets. They are referred to as permanent, because they keep their magnetism for a very long time. There are also natural rock magnets, such as lodestone, but this is also very brittle and easily broken. If one of these natural magnetic rocks or alloy magnets are not protected, and are broken their electrons are knocked out of alignment thereby disrupting their magnetic fields.
When rare earth magnets were first invented, they were very expensive and hard to find. However, they are currently massed produced and are easily located by the common person. Generally, there are two types that are used commercially and can be purchased by anyone: samarium-cobalt and neodymium. Samarium cobalt is reasonably priced, but its attraction is not as strong as neodymium. However, it has a strong resistance to oxidation. Neodymium is composed of iron and boron, and it has a much stronger attraction, but it easily oxidizes. Both these alloys are encased in an epoxy resin, gold, zinc, or nickel for protection.
Rare earth magnets can be found in cordless tools, hard drives, and speakers. More recently they can be found in building toys for children. They have also become a fixture for the hobby enthusiast and model makers. They use them to help create long lasting reproductions of everything from tanks to airplanes. There are also those industrialist individuals who claim rare earth magnets can be used to create the mysterious perpetual motion generator. This is a generator that reportedly uses very little energy to produce a tremendous and long lasting power source for home and industrial use. This type of magnetic has proven to be versatile and necessary for many businesses especially the computer and electronic fields. It seems that without this item society would not be able to compute, chat, or even function.
All magnets, including rare earth magnets, are created when their electrons line up in the same direction creating a single magnetic field that surrounds the entire object. Most magnets used everyday, such as horseshoe and bar magnets are permanent magnets, as are rare earth magnets. They are referred to as permanent, because they keep their magnetism for a very long time. There are also natural rock magnets, such as lodestone, but this is also very brittle and easily broken. If one of these natural magnetic rocks or alloy magnets are not protected, and are broken their electrons are knocked out of alignment thereby disrupting their magnetic fields.
When rare earth magnets were first invented, they were very expensive and hard to find. However, they are currently massed produced and are easily located by the common person. Generally, there are two types that are used commercially and can be purchased by anyone: samarium-cobalt and neodymium. Samarium cobalt is reasonably priced, but its attraction is not as strong as neodymium. However, it has a strong resistance to oxidation. Neodymium is composed of iron and boron, and it has a much stronger attraction, but it easily oxidizes. Both these alloys are encased in an epoxy resin, gold, zinc, or nickel for protection.
Rare earth magnets can be found in cordless tools, hard drives, and speakers. More recently they can be found in building toys for children. They have also become a fixture for the hobby enthusiast and model makers. They use them to help create long lasting reproductions of everything from tanks to airplanes. There are also those industrialist individuals who claim rare earth magnets can be used to create the mysterious perpetual motion generator. This is a generator that reportedly uses very little energy to produce a tremendous and long lasting power source for home and industrial use. This type of magnetic has proven to be versatile and necessary for many businesses especially the computer and electronic fields. It seems that without this item society would not be able to compute, chat, or even function.
0 comments:
Post a Comment