Menu Bar
Home Brain Bumpers Projects Reviews ROVs Home
How does hitting a magnet weaken its magnetic strength—or does it?

The answer is: Yes, it does.
    And the reason is this: In a magnet the electrons in the atoms are spinning in the same direction, which gives a magnet its magnetic domain—north or south—and creates a magnetic field.
    If the electrons are spinning every which way, the domains are scattered and the magnet is not magnetized.
    Dropping, hitting, or heating a magnet will disturb the magnetic field—the spin of the electrons goes out of alignment and becomes random. (If you heat the magnet, the electrons start moving more quickly and can vibrate out of alignment with the domain.)


Copyright © 2003 Peter Piper Publishing Inc.
Last updated April 14, 2003.