Natural Magnets And Man-Made Magnets

Natural Magnets And Man-Made Magnets

Natural Magnets-
A naturally occurring iron ore called Magnetite can attract small pieces of iron and steel. A linear piece of this ore when suspended freely comes to rest along a geographical North-South direction. These special properties of Magnetite are referred to as magnetism. Magnetite is actually an iron oxide ore with the chemical formula FeO. This natural magnet of dark blackish brown color is also known as Black stone or Lode Stone or Leading Stone or Kissing stone. The Greek discovered the attractive property of the natural magnet, whereas the Chinese discovered the directive property of this magnet. The earlier ships used magnetite to assess the direction of the travel. The natural magnets are not strong magnets. Earth itself behaves as a natural magnet having geographical north and south poles

Natural  Magnet

Man-Made or Artifical Magnet-

The man-made magnets are known as artificial magnets. The shape of a natural magnet is normally irregular. Such a magnet are weak also. When ordinary iron pieces are rubbed with magnets, they acquire the attractive and directive properties. The magnets produced so are known as artificial magnets and the process is called magnetization. Magnetisation can also be produced by passing current through a coil wound over a piece of iron Magnets produced so are called Electromagnets. A soft iron bar gets magnetized easily as compared to a steel bar but the steel bar does not lose magnetism readily. The artificial magnets are stronger and can be made of many shapes. Bar magnets, needle, U-Shaped magnets etc, are common examples of man-made magnets.
 

Man-Made Magnet