A horseshoe magnet is a U-shaped metal object that produces a magnetic field and remains magnetized. It was made as an alternative to the weaker bar magnet and is still effective for classroom demonstrations and collecting small metal objects. The magnetism is produced by the movement of electrons in atoms with unpaired electrons, such as iron. Magnets have everyday uses and are also used in medical treatments and storing data.
A horseshoe magnet is a U-shaped metal object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible, but it is responsible for the strong attraction of a magnet to other metallic objects. It is a type of permanent magnet, which means it remains magnetised, as opposed to an electromagnet, whose magnetic field can be started and stopped.
Originally, the horseshoe magnet was made as an alternative to the significantly weaker bar magnet. Its lifting force is doubled, compared to that of a bar magnet, because both of its magnetic poles point in the same direction. For industrial applications, they have largely been replaced by even stronger magnets, but are still effective for uses such as classroom demonstrations and collecting small metal objects.
Horseshoe and U-shaped magnets come in every size and lifting force, at equally varied price points. Properly stored, they can retain their magnetism for decades. They are common enough that a red U-shaped magnet is the universal symbol of magnets, recognized throughout the world.
In an electromagnet, the magnetic field is created by electricity moving through a wire. In a horseshoe magnet, magnetism is produced in the same way, i.e. by the movement of electrons. A basic understanding of the structure of atoms is helpful in elucidating this idea. Most electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom in pairs, and each electron has a spin on it, up or down, which creates a tiny magnetic field. The spins of the paired electrons go in opposite directions, canceling each other out. In other words, there is no net magnetic field.
Atoms of ferromagnetic elements, such as iron, have some unpaired electrons. This means their spin is not equalized by another electron, giving the atom a net magnetic field. The magnetism of an entire magnet comes from aligning the motion of these unpaired electrons throughout its atoms. The more unpaired electrons there are in an element, the stronger that element’s magnetism can be.
The magnetic properties of matter can be used in many ways. Horseshoe and many other types of magnets have everyday uses, such as sticking a note to a refrigerator or picking up metal objects. They’re also used in a number of traditional and alternative medical treatments for everything from arthritis to poor circulation. Storing data in credit cards and computers has become perhaps the most common modern use of magnetism.
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