36
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 29 May 2025
36 points (95.0% liked)
Ask
667 readers
71 users here now
Rules
- Be nice
- Posts must be legitimate questions (no rage bait or sea lioning)
- No spam
- NSFW allowed if tagged
- No politics
- For support questions, please go to [email protected]
founded 2 months ago
MODERATORS
Ferromagnetism (permanent magnetism in iron and iron alloys) happens when iron atoms (that are small magnets themselves) align to sum their magnetic fields and form a strong one we can experience in the macroscopic world.
When the magnet is heated, atoms are more energetic and more free to move around, they misalign because each atom is repelled by the others (equal poles repel each other, so when aligned they are in a constant state of repulsion, but if the material is cold they are "locked in") and the magnetic field disappears.
I'm not sure this is true. When aligned, aren't all the domains lined up north to south, which would be a state of attraction?
There's still atom-to-arom repulsion because of electron shells (that are negatovely charged) and attraction because of electron pairs forming a crystal bond, and other factors I don't know about.
My explaination is a gross oversimplification, and crystal chemistry is hard, but it should give a hint of what is going on.
Thank you for the explanation!