Have you ever wondered how magnets are made? Magnets are fascinating objects that can do all sorts of cool things. For example, you can use them to create a magnetic race car that seems to move on its own by placing one magnet on top of a table and another underneath. This happens because magnets have an invisible force that can pull through materials, like the table, making it look like magic!
If you’ve ever played with magnets, you might have noticed some interesting things. Magnets can attract certain materials, but not all. They stick to other magnets and metals like the ones on your refrigerator door. But do they attract every kind of metal? Try holding a magnet up to a piece of copper, which is an orangish-pink metal, and see what happens!
Magnets also come in different strengths. Some are thin and can only lift a paperclip, while others are so strong they can lift heavy objects. Be careful with strong magnets, as they can pinch your fingers if you’re not careful!
Another fun thing about magnets is that they can push each other apart if you turn them the right way. This is called repelling. If you have donut-shaped magnets, try putting them on a pencil and see if you can make them hover by repelling each other. It’s a really cool effect!
So, where do magnets come from? Long ago, magnets weren’t made; they were found in nature. The first magnets were rocks called lodestone or magnetite. These natural magnets are rare and can attract certain metals. People discovered that by rubbing a piece of iron or steel with lodestone, they could turn it into a magnet. You can try this at home with a steel paperclip and a magnet!
Eventually, people learned how to make stronger magnets using electricity. About 200 years ago, scientists discovered a connection between electricity and magnetism. By mixing metals like iron, nickel, and cobalt, and using electricity, factories can create powerful magnets. They heat the metals until they melt, pour them into shapes, and then use electricity to make them magnetic.
Magnets are not just for fun; they have many practical uses. They help keep doors and cupboards closed and are used in junkyards to lift heavy steel objects. Some trains, like the Maglev train in Japan, use magnets to float above the tracks and move forward. These trains use special magnets called electromagnets, which can be turned on and off with electricity.
What other useful things could you do with a strong magnet that can be turned on or off? Think about it! Magnets are all around us, and they help make our world work in amazing ways. Stay curious and keep exploring the wonders of magnets!
Magnet Hunt: Go on a magnet hunt around your home or classroom! Find different objects and test if they are attracted to a magnet. Make a list of the items that stick to the magnet and those that don’t. Can you find any patterns in the types of materials that are attracted to magnets?
Floating Magnets Experiment: Gather some donut-shaped magnets and a pencil. Carefully slide the magnets onto the pencil, making sure the same poles are facing each other to create a repelling force. Observe how the magnets float or hover above each other. Try changing the order of the magnets and see what happens. Can you make them hover higher?
Design a Magnetic Invention: Imagine you have a strong magnet that can be turned on and off. What kind of invention would you create with it? Draw a picture of your invention and explain how it works. Think about how your invention could help people in their everyday lives.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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(phone ringing) – Hi, Doug. – Hi, Chiranjev! I have a question for you: How are magnets made? – Oh, that’s a great question! There are all kinds of fun things you can do with magnets, like the ones you might see on a fridge. For example, here’s something I’ve always liked to do since I was a kid. You can put one magnet on a tabletop and one underneath the table to create a magnetic race car that appears to move on its own. That’s just one of the incredible properties of magnets. The invisible pulling force between two magnets can go right through the material the table is made of, so it almost looks like magic.
Have you ever played with magnets? What interesting things have you noticed about them? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss. Okay, you ready? If you haven’t played with magnets much before, I hope you’ll try! There are so many things you can notice when you do. For example, you can experiment with different materials to find out which ones magnets attract. They definitely don’t attract everything. They attract other magnets, of course, and they stick to refrigerators because they attract the metal those doors are made of. But do they attract every kind of metal?
Copper is an orangish-pink metal. Try holding a magnet up to a piece of copper and see what happens. You might have also noticed that magnets come in different strengths. There are really thin refrigerator magnets that can lift maybe a paperclip, but there are much stronger magnets that can lift some pretty heavy weights. Some are so strong that you have to be careful not to pinch your fingers when they pull something toward them.
You might have noticed that if you take two magnets and turn them just the right way, they can push each other apart instead of attracting. This repelling effect feels really cool! With donut-shaped magnets, you can try putting them on a pencil. If you get them to repel, you can make them hover.
So, magnets are amazing, no doubt about that! But how do we even get magnets in the first place? Where do they come from? How are they made? Well, it used to be that magnets weren’t made at all. The very first magnets known were natural magnets called lodestone or magnetite. It’s a rare type of rock found only in a few places on Earth. It looks like a rock but has the ability to invisibly pull or attract other lodestones and certain kinds of metal.
These natural magnets tend to be fairly weak, but people soon noticed that the invisible force of a lodestone can be transferred to a piece of iron or steel, turning it into a magnet. You can try this at home using magnets you have. Simply take a steel paperclip and rub it across the surface of a magnet a few times. Before long, the paperclip itself becomes a magnet. One fun thing to try is to make a chain of paperclips connecting to each other magnetically and see how long the chain gets before the magnetic force becomes too weak.
When you make a magnet this way, the magnetic force is still pretty weak, but eventually, it was discovered that it’s possible to make even stronger magnets using electricity. About 200 years ago, scientists discovered a strange connection between electricity and magnetism. That’s something you’ll learn more about in middle school and high school. By understanding this connection, we’ve figured out how to make magnets and how to make strong magnets too.
This is actual video footage of real magnets being made today. The process starts by mixing certain combinations of metals that work really well, like a mix of iron with other metals like nickel and cobalt. In factories, they mix these metals by first heating them until they are molten, almost like lava, and then pouring the molten metal into the desired shape. Once the molten metal mixture cools and hardens, they place it in the presence of a strong electrical current. This is the part that makes the metal mixture become magnetic—voilà! Now they’ve just made a strong magnet.
It may seem like a lot of trouble just for some magnets to put on your refrigerator, but while magnets are fun to play with, they have many practical uses. For example, magnets are used in door and cupboard latches to keep them closed. Giant magnets are used in junkyards to help pick up old cars or any heavy objects made of steel.
There are even trains, like the Maglev train in Japan, which stands for magnetic levitation. There are powerful magnets in the track that push the train up, allowing it to float above the track. A second set of magnets makes the train move forward. When a Maglev train is running, if you line up paperclips on the floor of the train, you’ll see they really are running on magnetic force.
Magnets used in Maglev trains and those used in junkyards are a special kind of powerful magnet called electromagnets. These magnets can actually be turned on and off using electricity. What other useful things could you do with a strong magnet that can be turned on or off? I’ll leave you with that to think about.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Chiranjev, for asking it! Now for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and picked three questions sent to me that I’m considering answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: Can plants grow without soil? When was chalk invented? Or do people really use robots? So submit your vote when the video is over. I want to hear from all of you watching—there are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week!
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This version removes any informal language and maintains a professional tone while preserving the original content’s essence.
