Magnets By: David Garcia

What do electric charges have in common with magnetic poles? What electric charges and magnetic poles have in common is that Magnetic poles and electric charges each have a positive and a negative charge.

What is a major difference between electric charges and magnetic poles? The difference between them is that magnetic poles do not exist without both north and south poles together, whereas electric charges, such as plus and minus, can exist alone.

What is a magnetic field, and what is its source? A magnetic field is a function of space which corresponds to magnetic forces exerted on charged particles in motion. The source of magnetic fields is charged particles in motion either within electromagnets or in the atoms of permanent magnets.

Every spinning electron is a tiny magnet. Since all atoms have spinning electrons, why are all atoms not tiny magnets? All atoms are not tiny magnets because electrons are spinning but their orbits go in all different directions depending on the element and those charges cancel each other out.

What is so special about iron that makes each iron atom a tiny magnet? Iron that makes each iron atom a tiny magnet is special because it's the structure of the free electrons in the outer shell of the atom.

What is magnetic domain? A magnetic domain is region in which the magnetic fields of atoms are grouped together and aligned.

How can a piece of iron (paperclip for example) be induced into becoming a magnet? A piece of iron can be induced into becoming a magnet by being an atom of iron or any ferromagnetic material.

Why will dropping or heating a magnet weaken it? Dropping or heating a magnet will not weaken it because the domains will stay in alignment.

Surrounding a current-carrying wire, what is the shape of the magnetic field? The shape of the magnetic field created by current flow in a wire will be circular around the wire. The magnetic lines of force "surround" or "wrap around" the wire.

If a current carrying wire is bent into a loop, why is the magnetic field stronger inside the loop than outside? If a current-carrying wire is bent into a loop, the magnetic field is stronger inside the loop than outside because the magnetic field lines become bunched inside the loop.

What role does Earth's magnetic field play in cosmic ray bombardment? The role that the Earths magnetic field plays in cosmic ray bombardment is the earth’s magnetic field protects us from the cosmic ray.

According to most geophysicists, what is the probable cause of the Earth's magnetic field? The probable cause of the earth’s magnetic field is earth's core is an iron bar through a magnetic field induces an electric current. I think that since the inner core is solid and is moving through space there might be "electric currents" that induce a magnetic field.

What are magnetic pole reversals, and what evidence is there that the Earth's magnetic field has undergone pole reversals throughout history? Magnetic pole reversals are occasionally the magnetic field switches polarity, the north and south magnetic poles reverse, and the field settles down in the opposite state. The evidence that the earth’s magnetic field has undergone pole reversals throughout history is it has been recorded in the "frozen" ferromagnetic minerals of solidified sedimentary deposits or cooled volcanic flows on land.