It is not so important to have a degree or be very successful in physics in order to know about magnets. Even a person who is not particularly versed in this science has heard about these amazing objects. However, not everyone knows how it works. This name comes from the name of the city of Magnesia, next to which magnets were mined in ancient times. Magnets have useful properties for the body, so many parents buy special toys for their children, for example, cheap magnetic balls.
Like many other physical phenomena, magnetism is caused by the movement of electrons. All objects are made up of atoms, and atoms are made up of a nucleus and electrons that revolve around a nucleus. The electrons are negatively charged, so each electron creates a magnetic field during rotation. When an electron rotates clockwise, its magnetic field is directed upwards, when counterclockwise – downward.
If the electrons do not “communicate” with each other, then each electron independently decides which way it should rotate. As a result, half of the electrons rotates in one direction, and the other half – in the other. Then the number of magnetic fields directed upward is equal to the number of fields directed downward. As a result, there is no magnetic field. But if for some reason the electrons benefit from an “agreement”, they begin to rotate in one direction, and a strong magnetic field arises. A stone, the electrons of which could “agree” among themselves, is called a magnet.
It has long been no secret to anyone that when you try to connect two magnets with the same poles, they will repel. Only opposite poles are magnetized. Not a single magnet, not even a small piece, will be unipolar. If it is broken, molecules will be distributed at the north and south poles inside each individual piece.
