29/11/2013
By understanding how an electric motor works you can learn a lot about magnetism and its relationship with electricity, and what better way to learn how a motor works than by building your own basic motor. But first, a little about the fundamentals of electricity and magnetism.
21/11/2013
We’re on the verge of a once in an eleven year solar event that sounds as impossible as it does fascinating, if not a little menacing – a solar field reversal. More specifically, a complete reversal of the sun’s polar magnetic field which means that its magnetic north and south poles will change places entirely.
10/11/2013
When we talk about magnetic levitation what we are referring to is an object suspended by magnetic pressure which counteracts the effects of gravity. It generates images of large futuristic objects hovering and travelling at high-speeds.
24/10/2013
Neodymium magnets are the strongest in the world, that’s why they can be pricey. If you have an old hard drive, one you won’t ever need again, you can dismantle it to retrieve the neodymium magnets inside. Here I will give you a step-by-step guide for taking apart a computer hard drive.
17/10/2013
The Earth produces its own magnetic field, which emanates from its magnetic inner iron core. On the Earth’s surface the magnetic field is extremely weak compared to the permanent magnets used in many every day appliances. At the magnetic poles the Earth’s magnetic field is approximately 0.7 Gauss compared to the Gauss value of a relatively small 10mm diameter x 5mm thick N42 neodymium magnet which can reach 5100 Gauss. It is this magnetic field that makes a compass point north but for many species, the Earth’s magnetic field has... Read More
15/10/2013
Ordinarily, heat and electronics aren’t the best of companions; even less unsuited partners are heat and some magnetic materials! However, a new technology being developed by Seagate for the next generation of storage devices, known as ‘heat-assisted magnetic recording’ is breaking the convention. The technology is heralded as revolutionary and could significantly increase the amount of data that can be stored on a hard drive by increasing storage density.
09/10/2013
Yesterday, Tuesday 8 October 2013. English Professor Peter Higgs and his Belgian colleague François Englert were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work that proposed the mechanism that explains how the most basic building blocks of the universe have mass. The Higgs Boson theory.
09/10/2013
Hi there. You may have guessed it, but I love magnets. I also love discovering awesome videos about magnets and luckily the web is full of magnet and physics videos. Here I highlight five of my favourites.
09/10/2013
The Internet is full of useful information, including thousands of fabulous teaching resources created for every subject by teachers, schools and organisations. At first4magnets.com we are passionate about providing great, useful information about magnets for people young and old. Take a look at these free teaching resources we’ve put together. Please feel free to use and share 🙂
08/10/2013
Anyone working with or near magnets will have been made aware of the many health and safety warnings regarding magnets. One warning has always been that you must keep magnets away from computers, credit cards, and even your phone. So, do magnets pose a threat to phones and other modern technology? If so, what threats do they pose and how strong must a magnet be to damage a phone, and what parts of the device would be susceptible to damage? The whole idea can be traced back to older pieces... Read More
