Temporary & Permanent Magnets
Physics: Cambridge International GCSE Supplement, topic 4.1.5
Temporary and Permanent Magnets
Iron, nickel and cobalt are the only pure metals that can be turned into a magnet. These metals are called “magnetic materials”. Magnetic materials are attracted to magnets, but can't be repelled by magnets.
Permanent magnets
- Permanent magnets are always magnetic, even when they are not near other magnets.
- Permanently magnetised substances are described as magnetically hard.
Magnetic materials
- Magnetic materials do not attract or repel other magnetic materials.
- They will become a magnet only when close to a permanent magnet. This is called induced magnetism.
- The permanent magnet creates temporary poles in the magnetic material and these align so that the magnetic material is attracted to the permanent magnet.
Test yourself on Temporary & Permanent Magnets
Which of these is not a magnetic material?
Which of the following are true of magnetic materials?