“Super magnets” are neodymium magnets or powerful electromagnets used in fMRI imaging. They are much stronger than ferrite magnets and can be hazardous to pacemaker wearers. Neodymium magnets are made of an alloy of neodymium, iron, and boron and can hold 1300 times their own weight. They have various uses but must be used with caution as they can be dangerous to health, data, and can shatter.
A “super magnet” is generally a slang term for neodymium magnets, the strongest permanent magnets known. It can also be a term for a powerful electromagnet, such as the type used in hospitals for fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) imaging. Both magnets are much stronger than typical ferrite bar magnets and can be hazardous to the health of pacemaker wearers. Neodymium magnets are also so powerful that you can be injured just by playing with large samples of them – the force they generate when they come together can be strong enough to pierce human skin. The cost of neodymium magnets is approximately $USD 44 (US dollars) per kilogram ($97 USD per pound).
The best known and most widespread form of super magnets are neodymium magnets, which are made of an alloy of neodymium, iron and boron – Nd2Fe14B. They only became widely available starting in the 1990s. Unlike ferrite magnets, which are dull gray, a neodymium super magnet is shiny and silvery, like polished stainless steel. Neodymium magnets can hold 1300 times their own weight, a strength-to-weight ratio similar to that of the strongest animals, such as the tropical mite Archegozetes longisetosus. This means that a one gram neodymium super magnet can hold a 1.3 kg (2.8 lb) iron ball.
Neodymium magnets have a variety of uses, the most common being for stabilizing and angle head motors in computer hard drives. Magnets are also popular with hobbyists, who use them to build unique structures held entirely together by tiny magnets. Neodymium magnets are also popular with science teachers, who use them to demonstrate Lenz’s law, the phenomenon whereby strong magnets exhibit magnetic breakdown when brought near conductive and non-ferrous metals. This can be demonstrated by dropping a neodymium magnet through a copper tube. The magnet will fall very slowly as it works its way through the tube.
Neodymium magnets must be used with caution. If ingested, they can pinch lengths of intestines together, causing gastrointestinal perforation, which can lead to death if surgery isn’t administered immediately. As mentioned above, neodymium magnets are dangerous for people with pacemakers. In addition to health, neodymium magnets can be dangerous to data: these magnets are one of the few materials capable of erasing credit cards and hard drive data so intensely that it becomes unrecoverable, even using the best techniques. Large neodymium magnets have a tendency to attract each other or ferrous objects so strongly that they shatter, sending shards of magnetic shrapnel everywhere. Large neodymium magnets must be handled with care.
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