Neodymium magnets are strong permanent magnets made of a metal alloy containing neodymium, iron, and boron. They are capable of holding more than 1,000 times their own weight and are used in electronic devices and engines for remote controlled model aircraft. They have strange properties when interacting with other materials and can be dangerous if handled improperly, especially larger ones. Manufacturers cannot ship them on airplanes due to their interference with navigation systems. Safety warnings are issued for their handling.
Neodymium magnets are a type of permanent magnets also known as rare earth magnets, due to the fact that they contain one or more rare earth elements from the periodic table. Most are made of a metal alloy containing neodymium, iron and boron. They are much stronger than most magnets people are used to using, such as refrigerator magnets. Due to the forces they generate, they can be dangerous or even cause fatal injuries if not handled properly.
These magnets are the strongest permanent magnets available and are capable of holding more than 1,000 times their own weight in some cases. They are manufactured in many different shapes and sizes, such as cubes, discs, spheres, plates, and rings, among others. The small ones are used in some electronic devices, such as computer hard drives and headphones. They have also proved useful in building engines for remote controlled model aircraft.
The strength of neodymium magnets is indicated by the letter “N” followed by a number, ranging from N24 to N55. In theory, it is possible to make one as strong as N64, but this remains a mostly theoretical possibility. These magnets have some strange properties when interacting with some other materials due to their impressive strength-to-size ratio.
One such property is known as magnetic braking and can be observed by dropping a neodymium magnet through a copper tube. The magnet will fall off very slowly, due to the way the magnet and non-magnetic copper interact with each other. Immersing copper tubing in liquid nitrogen is said to enhance this effect. A row of sufficiently strong neodymium magnets is powerful enough to affect the speed and angle of a steel projectile in flight.
Most neodymium magnets in use are small and even these can be dangerous if handled improperly. For example, if a child is left unattended and swallows two small magnets, they can pinch internal organs and cause injury or life-threatening infection. Even more care needs to be taken with larger magnets, such as those the size of a person’s palm. These magnets are powerful enough to affect everything magnetic or electronic in a room, often with unpleasant results.
Manufacturers are unable to ship these larger magnets on airplanes, because they are so strong that they can interfere with an airplane’s navigation system, especially its compass. The websites of many neodymium magnet retailers are filled with safety warnings regarding their handling. Despite these caveats, magnets can prove very useful in scientific applications, whether for demonstration or experimentation.
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