Why is iron ferromagnetic

List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph. Chemistry Expert. Helmenstine holds a Ph. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels. Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Iron is ferromagnetic attracted to magnets , but only within a certain temperature range and other specific conditions. Iron is paramagnetic above this temperature and only weakly attracted to a magnetic field.

Magnetic materials consist of atoms with partially-filled electron shells. So, most magnetic materials are metals. Other magnetic elements include nickel and cobalt. Nonmagnetic diamagnetic metals include copper, gold, and silver. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph. Metal Profile and Properties of Tellurium. The Compass and Other Magnetic Innovations. Austenite and Austenitic: Definitions. So the whole material acts as a big magnet. And when we remove the external magnetic field suddenly, domains will not return to their original position and will stay in same direction.

These types of materials are known as ferromagnetic materials and this nature is known as ferromagnetism. All magnets are made up of ferromagnetic materials because these materials can be converted into permanent magnets easily. Iron can also be converted into permanent magnet this way, although the magnetic property can be removed by applying high mechanical force or subjecting the material to very high temperature, which forces the domain to orient in random directions.

So the next time you look at a magnet sticking on your fridge, you know the science behind it! In magnets like those, the atoms are arranged in such a way that all the unpaired spins are forced in the same direction to form a very powerful magnetic moment. Skip to main content Menu. Why is iron magnetic, unlike other metals? Lennart de Groot. Active 3 years, 9 months ago.

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It's a mistake. It will be Manganese.. Devgeet Patel Devgeet Patel 3 3 silver badges 11 11 bronze badges. Brown 5 4 4 bronze badges. Samir saad kandil Samir saad kandil 1. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook.