Magnetic field using horseshoe magnet, keeper and iron filings

This shows some fun ways to manipulate and see magnetic fields using a horseshoe magnet, a steel keeper and some iron filings. To manipulate the magnetic field it talks about the concept of magnetic permeability.

Watch my how-to video, http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-video-399025/ How to use a horseshoe magnet, steel keeper & iron filings to explore magnetic fields on WonderHowTo.

- http://rimstar.org

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• magnet
• magnetic
• field
• horseshoe
• keeper
• iron
• filings
• permeability

[TheLewAdsProductions]

awesome video

[RimstarOrg]

@TheLewAdsProductions Thanks!

[kfor714]

Where did you buy that magnet? And what is the brand name of it?

[RimstarOrg]

@kfor714 I just confirmed with them. The manufacturer went out of business and they don't like the u-shaped magnets coming out of Asia so they no longer supply them. Sorry, I can't help. Try googling I guess.

[RimstarOrg]

@90degreeman It's the least I can do to pay back for stuff I learned today, :)

[90degreeman]

@RimstarOrg Fantastic. Thank you for answering. The best thing about science is that it should be based on facts and scrutiny from all points of view. I appreciate you taking the time to enlighten. I looked up Ferromagnetism and your explanation makes sense. I learned something new today.

[RimstarOrg]

@90degreeman They become magnets when in a magnetic field. Look up Ferromagnetism on wikipedia. Take an iron coat hanger wire and put it in a magnetic field for a while so that it's length is lined up with one end facing the magnet's north pole and the other facing the south pole. Then put it near a compass or a needle hanging from a thread and you'll see it's a magnet. I made a horseshoe magnet this way. Make some filings from the iron and the filings behave the same.

[90degreeman]

Iron filings I think are not magnets...they don't attract to a piece of solid iron (that is not a magnet , those magnetic zones are not aligned and they cancel each other). Please correct me.

[RimstarOrg]

@bizkit459 I think your confusion lies in what you said here "if the south pole on a bar-magnet will repell a metal object". BOTH poles ATTRACT a metal object. Did I say it wrongly somewhere? If it was my last reply to you, the repulsion I was talking about was an example of what DOESN'T happen. You don't sound stupid; in fact you made a very smart observation about the keeper being like the iron filings. By the way, only metal objects that are ferromagnetic will behave this way.

[bizkit459]

but...if the south pole on a bar-magnet will repell a metal object..how come the south pole on the horseshoe-magnet attracts the metal "keeper" in the video??? i kno i sound stupid, i just cant get my head around it! lol