Magnetism: Atoms, Electrons, Domains, Fields
Magnetism, a fundamental force of nature, is primarily explained through two key concepts: the domain theory and the atomic theory.
The atomic theory delves into the microscopic origins of magnetism, stating that it arises from electrons orbiting the nucleus of atoms and spinning on their axis, which creates tiny magnetic fields. While most electrons are paired with opposite spins, effectively canceling out their magnetic effects, atoms with unpaired electrons, such as iron atoms, produce a net magnetic field, acting as mini-magnets. This movement of electrons and their spin is considered a fundamental property that gives rise to an atom's magnetic behavior.
Building upon this, the domain theory illustrates how groups of atoms form magnetic domains, which are like tiny, self-contained magnets with their own north and south poles. In an unmagnetized material, these domains are randomly oriented, causing their collective magnetic fields to cancel each other out, resulting in no overall magnetism. However, when a material is magnetized, for instance by an external magnetic field or by stroking it systematically with a magnet, these domains align in the same direction, creating a strong, overall magnetic field. The more domains that align in the same direction, the stronger the overall magnetic field.
The interaction between magnets is governed by their poles: opposite poles attract, while like poles repel. When a magnet is broken, it simply creates smaller magnets, each still possessing both a north and south pole. Conversely, a material can be demagnetized by heating it to a high temperature (above its Curie point) or by forceful impact, which randomizes the direction of its magnetic domains.
The overview also differentiates between various forms of magnetism, including ferromagnetism (strong attraction in materials like iron, cobalt, and nickel), paramagnetism (weak attraction due to unpaired electrons), and diamagnetism (weak repulsion caused by changes in electron orbits). Electromagnets, unlike permanent magnets, produce magnetic fields only when an electric current flows through them.
The Earth itself behaves as a giant magnet, with a magnetic field extending into space that protects the planet from solar radiation and cosmic rays. Magnetism has numerous applications, ranging from electric motors and magnetic storage to medical imaging (MRI). Common magnetic materials include ferrites (ceramic magnets), alnico magnets, neodymium magnets, and samarium cobalt magnets.
0.000000 6.100000 Welcome to everyday explained your daily 20-minute dive into the fascinating house and wise of the world around you.
6.100000 11.000000 I'm your host, Chris, and I'm excited to help you discover something new. Let's get started.
11.000000 12.500000 Okay, let's unpack this.
12.500000 13.000000 Sure.
13.000000 20.500000 How is it that a simple magnet, like the one holding your grocery list to the fridge, just sticks there?
20.500000 23.000000 It feels a bit like everyday magic.
23.000000 30.000000 It absolutely does, and you're hitting on something really common. Magnets are everywhere, but the science.
30.000000 32.000000 Well, it's surprisingly deep.
32.000000 33.000000 Deep is right.
33.000000 39.000000 It runs from simple ideas we can all get right up into quantum physics. It's pretty fundamental stuff.
39.000000 43.000000 And that's basically our mission today on the deep dive. We're going to try and pull back the curtain
43.000000 49.000000 and explain how these things work, both in easy terms, but also get into some of the really cool science behind it.
49.000000 52.000000 Kind of demystify this invisible force.
52.000000 53.000000 Yeah, that invisible pull.
53.000000 60.000000 And maybe, just maybe we'll finally answer why my Philadelphia Eagles magnet sticks to the fridge, but my classic fork is just...
60.000000 61.000000 Well, a plastic fork.
61.000000 63.000000 Let's see what we can do.
63.000000 68.000000 So, to start simple, for someone who just knows magnets stick to stuff, what is a magnet, basically?
68.000000 73.000000 Okay, so at its core, a magnet is an object that makes its own magnetic field.
73.000000 77.000000 And it's this field that, well, pulls on specific metals.
77.000000 78.000000 Like iron.
78.000000 84.000000 Exactly. Iron, nickel, cobalt. Those are the main ones. The ferromagnetic metals. They react strongly.
84.000000 89.000000 Okay, so this magnetic field, you mentioned, what is that exactly? It's invisible, right? How do you even picture it?
89.000000 93.000000 Yeah, totally invisible. Think of it like an aura.
93.000000 97.000000 An invisible bubble of influence around the magnet stretching out.
97.000000 98.000000 Okay.
98.000000 100.000000 You can't see it, but you feel its effect.
100.000000 106.000000 That field is what pulls or pushes other magnets or magnetic things without actually touching them.
106.000000 109.000000 Like a, that classic horseshoe magnet image.
109.000000 111.000000 Oh, yeah. Zeppin' up paper clips.
111.000000 114.000000 Exactly. That's the field reaching out, doing its thing.
114.000000 119.000000 Gotcha. And that leads right to the rule of honor of nursing school, right? North and South Poles.
119.000000 122.000000 Precisely. Every magnet has two poles, a North and a South.
122.000000 126.000000 And the rule is simple. Opposites attract, likes repel.
126.000000 130.000000 Which is why they sometimes feel like they're fighting each other if you push the wrong ends together.
130.000000 133.000000 That's the forces from the poles interacting directly.
133.000000 136.000000 And, you know, there are different kinds of magnets, too.
136.000000 139.000000 Oh, yeah. Well, you've got your permanent ones or hard magnets.
139.000000 142.000000 Like your fridge magnet, always on, always making a field.
142.000000 143.000000 Right.
143.000000 149.000000 Then temporary or soft magnet, they only get magnetic when another magnet is nearby.
149.000000 152.000000 And it doesn't last long once you take the other magnet away.
152.000000 153.000000 Okay.
153.000000 158.000000 And then electro-magnets. Those are really cool. They only work when you run electricity through them, like in a motor or something.
158.000000 165.000000 So that covers the, what, the basics? Yeah. But how do we get to the how? Like down at the tiny, tiny level.
165.000000 167.000000 What makes something magnetic?
167.000000 168.000000 Okay. Now we're getting deeper.
168.000000 171.000000 The first step is something called the domain theory.
171.000000 176.000000 It's actually an older idea from before we really understood atoms perfectly.
176.000000 177.000000 But it still works.
177.000000 181.000000 It does. At a bigger scale, it's a really good way to think about it. A great concept.
181.000000 186.000000 So what does this domain theory say is inside, say, a bar of iron?
186.000000 189.000000 Imagine that iron bar isn't solid metal, right?
189.000000 194.000000 Imagine it's full of countless tiny little pockets or regions we call the magnetic domain.
194.000000 195.000000 Okay. Little pockets.
195.000000 197.000000 And here's the key bit.
197.000000 204.000000 Each tiny domain acts like its own miniature magnet, a tiny bar magnet with its own north and south pole.
204.000000 210.000000 Ah, okay. I think I see where this is going. Is this like our Dave and Bill truck analogy? Dave's truck.
210.000000 216.000000 Right. Dave's truck full of boxes with tiny magnets inside, but he just tossed them in randomly.
216.000000 217.000000 Yeah, pointing every which way.
217.000000 220.000000 So all those little magnetic fields just cancel each other out.
220.000000 223.000000 The whole truck, no overall magnetism.
223.000000 228.000000 That's like your regular un magnetized piece of iron potential, but nothing's happening.
228.000000 231.000000 But then Bill comes along. Bill's truck is super neat.
231.000000 233.000000 Exactly. Bill lines up every box.
233.000000 237.000000 All the little magnets inside are pointing the same direction, north with north, south with south.
237.000000 240.000000 And then all those tiny fields add up. They reinforce each other.
240.000000 245.000000 Bill's whole truck essentially becomes one big magnet, one in his north, the other is south.
245.000000 247.000000 All that potential working together.
247.000000 251.000000 So if your iron bar is messy like Dave's truck, it's just metal.
251.000000 254.000000 But if it gets its act together like Bill's bam, magnet.
254.000000 256.000000 That's a perfect way to put it.
256.000000 259.000000 Magnetism at this level is all about alignment.
259.000000 263.000000 Normally, the domain's point randomly can't swing out.
263.000000 264.000000 Right.
264.000000 268.000000 But if you can line them up, make them all point the same way, you get an overall field.
268.000000 270.000000 The whole thing becomes magnetic.
270.000000 276.000000 Which explains how you can like stroke an iron nail with a magnet to make it magnetic.
276.000000 278.000000 You're basically telling the domains to line up.
278.000000 279.000000 Precisely.
279.000000 283.000000 You're coaxing them, encouraging them to align with the field of the magnet you're using.
283.000000 286.000000 Like getting Bill to organize Dave's truck.
286.000000 289.000000 Huh. And this theory explains other stuff too.
289.000000 296.000000 It does. Like why if you break a magnet in half, you don't get just a north pole piece and a south pole piece.
296.000000 297.000000 Yeah, why is that?
297.000000 301.000000 Because each half still contains millions of those tiny domains.
301.000000 303.000000 And they're still aligned within each piece.
303.000000 307.000000 So you just get two smaller magnets each complete with its own north and south.
307.000000 309.000000 Whoa. So you keep breaking it smaller and smaller.
309.000000 311.000000 Down to a certain point. Yeah.
311.000000 315.000000 It also explains how you lose magnetism, demagnetization.
315.000000 317.000000 Right. Like dropping it or heating it up.
317.000000 325.000000 Exactly. If you hit a magnet hard or heat it past its curie point, that's a specific temperature for each material you shake things up.
325.000000 326.000000 How so?
326.000000 331.000000 Well, the heat energy, the shock just makes the atoms vibrate so much that the domains get scrambled.
331.000000 335.000000 They lose their alignment, point randomly again, and poof.
335.000000 337.000000 The overall magnetism disappears.
337.000000 339.000000 Okay. Okay. But hold on.
339.000000 344.000000 If a magnet is made of tiny magnets, those are made of domains.
344.000000 348.000000 What are the domains made of? What's the actual source? Gotta go deeper.
348.000000 351.000000 Oh, yes. You're pushing us to the really fundamental level.
351.000000 354.000000 And that's where atomic theory takes over. Everything's made of atoms.
354.000000 356.000000 Right. Protons, neutrons, electrons.
356.000000 359.000000 Exactly. And inside those atoms, you have the electrons moving around the nucleus.
359.000000 360.000000 It's just zipping about.
360.000000 363.000000 They are. But here's the mind bending part.
363.000000 367.000000 Electrons don't just orbit. They also have this built in property called spin.
367.000000 369.000000 Spin. Like a tiny spinning top.
369.000000 373.000000 Well, that's the analogy, but it's not quite literal spinning at the quantum level.
373.000000 376.000000 It's more like an intrinsic magnetic moment.
376.000000 379.000000 Yeah. A fundamental property like electric charge.
379.000000 381.000000 You just have it. Okay. That property.
381.000000 386.000000 And it's this spin that makes each individual electron act like a minuscule magnet.
386.000000 388.000000 It generates its own tiny magnetic field.
388.000000 394.000000 So wait, if every electron is a tiny magnet, why isn't everything magnetic?
394.000000 396.000000 Why doesn't my coffee cup stick to the wall?
396.000000 400.000000 Excellent question. And the answer usually lies in pairing.
400.000000 403.000000 It comes down to something called the poly exclusion principle.
403.000000 406.000000 In most atoms, electrons like to hang out in pairs.
406.000000 407.000000 Okay.
407.000000 412.000000 And when they pair up, one spins, let's say, up and the other spins down.
412.000000 415.000000 They're tiny magnetic fields point in opposite directions.
415.000000 417.000000 Ah, so they cancel each other out?
417.000000 419.000000 Exactly. Perfectly canceled.
419.000000 426.000000 So even though the individual electrons are magnetic, the pair together has no net magnetic effect on the atom.
426.000000 430.000000 Like, two dancers spinning up, so ways ending up still make sense.
430.000000 431.000000 Precisely. Yeah.
431.000000 437.000000 But in certain materials, the ferromagnetic ones, iron, cobalt, nickel, you find atoms that have unpaired electrons.
437.000000 439.000000 Electrons sitting alone in their orbital shells.
439.000000 441.000000 Unpaired, so no partner to cancel them out.
441.000000 448.000000 You got it. And crucially, in these materials, these unpaired electrons tend to have their spins aligned in the same direction.
448.000000 450.000000 All spinning up, for example. Sort of. Yeah.
450.000000 455.000000 Because they're unpaired and aligned, their tiny magnetic fields add up.
455.000000 458.000000 This gives the entire atom a net magnetic moment.
458.000000 461.000000 The atom itself becomes a mini magnet.
461.000000 468.000000 Okay. That's the fundamental source. The atom itself is the tiniest magnet because of those unpaired aligned electrons.
468.000000 471.000000 That's the core of it. And now we can connect back to the domain theory.
471.000000 472.000000 How so?
472.000000 478.000000 Those magnetic domains we talked about, they're actually groups of millions or billions of these atoms,
478.000000 486.000000 where all their atomic magnetic fields, thanks to those spinning electrons, are already aligned, pointing collectively in one direction.
486.000000 490.000000 So the domains are just regions where the atoms are already cooperating magnetically.
490.000000 496.000000 Exactly. It bridges the atomic scale with the slightly larger scale we can visualize with domains.
496.000000 500.000000 This is really clicking now. So back to my crucial eagles' magnet on the fridge.
500.000000 503.000000 What's happening there? Adam by Adam.
503.000000 511.000000 Okay. Your fridge door. It's probably steel, which has iron in it, so it's ferromagnetic, but normally it isn't a magnet, right?
511.000000 512.000000 Right. Doesn't stick to itself.
512.000000 521.000000 Because it's domains, and therefore the magnetic fields of its atoms are all pointing randomly, canceling out Dave's truck.
521.000000 522.000000 Got it. Random domains.
522.000000 529.000000 Now, you bring your eagles' magnet close. It has a strong permanent magnetic field because its domains are aligned.
529.000000 535.000000 Okay. That external field from your magnet reaches out and influences the domains in the fridge door.
535.000000 538.000000 It applies a force, a torque on them.
538.000000 539.000000 And they react.
539.000000 540.000000 They respond.
540.000000 547.000000 The domains in the fridge door start to align themselves with the field of your eagles' magnet. They get temporarily organized.
547.000000 553.000000 So the fridge door becomes temporarily magnetic right there, just where the magnet is. And that's why it sticks.
553.000000 556.000000 They're attracting each other because the fridge is trying to be a magnet, too.
553.000000 553.000000 Yeah.
556.000000 558.000000 That's exactly it. It's called induced magnetism.
558.000000 564.000000 The fridge door is temporarily magnetized by your permanent magnet, creating an attractive force between them.
564.000000 565.000000 That's the stickiness.
565.000000 568.000000 Wow. Okay. But my plastic fork doesn't do that well.
568.000000 570.000000 Right. Because plastic isn't ferromagnetic.
570.000000 575.000000 It doesn't have those atomic structures with unpaired electrons ready to align easily.
575.000000 577.000000 We mentioned paramagnetic materials.
577.000000 578.000000 Yeah. Weekly attracted.
578.000000 585.000000 Right. Things like aluminum. They have some unpaired electrons that align weekly, so they feel a tiny pole.
585.000000 590.000000 And then diamagnetic materials like water, wood, yeah, plastic.
590.000000 592.000000 Yep. They have no unpaired electrons.
592.000000 598.000000 An external field actually slightly messes with the electron orbits in a way that creates a tiny repulsion.
598.000000 601.000000 They're weekly pushed away, not attracted.
601.000000 602.000000 So subtle.
602.000000 604.000000 Very subtle. So the main takeaway.
604.000000 612.000000 Magnets strongly attract materials that can become magnetic themselves because they have those unpaired electrons ready to align.
612.000000 616.000000 That makes so much sense now. Okay. So we know how they work down to the electron spin.
616.000000 617.000000 Yeah.
617.000000 621.000000 What about making them and breaking them? What's the history there?
621.000000 622.000000 Well, nature got their first.
622.000000 626.000000 The earliest magnets known were natural rocks called load stone. It's a type of magnetite.
626.000000 627.000000 Found lying around.
627.000000 630.000000 Pretty much. The ancient Greeks knew about it.
630.000000 635.000000 And later people figured out you could rub an iron needle with a load stone and the needle would become magnetic.
635.000000 636.000000 That was the first compass technology.
636.000000 639.000000 It's rubbing it. Aligning those domains that we talked about.
639.000000 642.000000 Exactly. That's still a basic method.
642.000000 644.000000 Other ways to make magnets artificially.
644.000000 649.000000 You can put a suitable material inside a really strong magnetic field.
649.000000 651.000000 The field forces the domains to align.
651.000000 654.000000 Like a really powerful Bill's truck organizing things.
654.000000 655.000000 Sort of. Yeah.
655.000000 662.000000 Or pass a strong electric current through a coil of wire wrapped around it that makes an electromagnet usually temporary.
662.000000 664.000000 But can be very strong.
664.000000 671.000000 You can even, apparently, hit an iron bar repeatedly with a hammer while it's lined up with the Earth's magnetic field north south.
671.000000 675.000000 It can weakly magnetize it just from the shock and alignment.
675.000000 678.000000 Wacking it into submission and breaking them.
678.000000 680.000000 Making them lose magnetism.
678.000000 678.000000 Yeah.
680.000000 682.000000 My mom always warned me about dropping magnets.
682.000000 684.000000 She wasn't wrong. Heat is a big one.
684.000000 685.000000 Heat it above its carrier point.
685.000000 689.000000 And the atomic vibrations just totally scrambled the domain alignment.
689.000000 690.000000 Magnetism gone.
690.000000 695.000000 A strong opposing magnetic field can also do it, basically forcing the domains to flip the wrong way.
695.000000 700.000000 And yeah, physical shock dropping or hammering can knock the domains out of alignment too.
700.000000 701.000000 It's all about missing up that order.
701.000000 703.000000 So neatness counts for magnets.
703.000000 704.000000 It really does.
704.000000 707.000000 And that relates to why some magnets are stronger or less longer.
707.000000 711.000000 How strong it is depends on how well you align the domains.
711.000000 716.000000 How permanent it is, its retentivity depends on how hard it was to align them in the first place.
716.000000 718.000000 Harder to make. Harder to break.
718.000000 719.000000 Generally, yeah.
719.000000 723.000000 Materials that resist becoming magnetized often hold on to their magnetism better once they finally are.
723.000000 724.000000 Fascinating.
724.000000 725.000000 Okay.
725.000000 727.000000 This is maybe my favorite part.
727.000000 730.000000 The biggest magnet we deal with every day isn't on the fridge.
730.000000 733.000000 It's the Earth itself.
733.000000 734.000000 How does that work?
734.000000 736.000000 Is there a giant load stone down there?
736.000000 737.000000 Good question.
737.000000 738.000000 But no.
738.000000 741.000000 No giant bar magnet in the center.
741.000000 745.000000 Earth's magnetic field, the magnetosphere is way more dynamic.
745.000000 749.000000 It's generated mostly by the churning molten iron and nickel in Earth's outer core.
749.000000 751.000000 Molden metals spinning around.
751.000000 752.000000 Exactly.
752.000000 756.000000 As the Earth rotates, this conductive liquid metal flows in complex patterns.
756.000000 758.000000 Think giant convection currents.
758.000000 760.000000 This movement generates massive electrical currents.
760.000000 764.000000 An electrical currents create magnetic fields like an electromagnet.
764.000000 765.000000 Precisely.
765.000000 770.000000 It's like a giant self-sustaining dynamo deep inside the planet generating this huge protective field.
770.000000 771.000000 Protective.
771.000000 772.000000 How so?
772.000000 774.000000 Absolutely crucial.
774.000000 783.000000 This magnetosphere shields us from the worst of the solar wind that constant stream of charged particles blasting from the sun and other cosmic rays.
783.000000 784.000000 It deflects most of them away.
784.000000 785.000000 Wow.
785.000000 786.000000 So without it.
786.000000 788.000000 Things would be pretty bad.
788.000000 790.000000 Our atmosphere could get stripped away over time.
790.000000 793.000000 Radiation levels at the surface would be much higher.
793.000000 795.000000 Life would have a much harder time.
795.000000 801.000000 And as a bonus, when those deflected particles do interact with our upper atmosphere near the poles.
801.000000 804.000000 In northern and southern lights, the aurora.
804.000000 807.000000 That's them, a beautiful side effect of our planetary shield.
807.000000 808.000000 That's incredible.
808.000000 812.000000 So our planet is basically a giant dynamo protecting us and giving us light shows.
812.000000 813.000000 Pretty much.
813.000000 814.000000 And it's useful too.
814.000000 817.000000 Compasses obviously work by aligning with this field.
817.000000 820.000000 And some animals have an amazing ability called magnetoreception.
820.000000 821.000000 Like vert.
821.000000 824.000000 Migratory birds, sea turtles, fish.
824.000000 833.000000 They seem to have tiny magnetic particles, maybe in their ears or brains, that let them sense the earth's field and use it for navigation over vast distances.
833.000000 834.000000 Like a built-in GPS.
834.000000 835.000000 Nature is wild.
835.000000 838.000000 And didn't you say scientists are still figuring it out?
838.000000 839.000000 Like it flips sometimes?
839.000000 840.000000 Yeah.
840.000000 842.000000 The field isn't perfectly stable.
842.000000 847.000000 Geologic records show it actually reverses polarity every few hundred thousand years or so.
847.000000 849.000000 The process takes thousands of years.
849.000000 854.000000 We don't fully understand why or exactly how the dynamo works still mysteries down there.
854.000000 855.000000 So cool.
855.000000 859.000000 Okay, we've gone from fridge doors to planetary cores.
859.000000 862.000000 Magnets are clearly more than just toys.
862.000000 865.000000 Where else are they hiding in plain sight doing important work?
865.000000 867.000000 Oh, they're absolutely everywhere in technology.
867.000000 868.000000 Electronics.
868.000000 873.000000 For starters, hard drives use tiny magnetic regions to store all your data.
873.000000 878.000000 Speakers and microphones rely on magnets interacting with electric coils to make sound or capture it.
878.000000 881.000000 Old tube TVs use magnets to steer electron beams.
881.000000 882.000000 Right.
882.000000 883.000000 Okay.
883.000000 884.000000 What else?
884.000000 889.000000 Motors and generators are fundamental applications converting electrical energy to motion and back using magnetism.
889.000000 895.000000 Transportation, high-speed maglev trains literally float using powerful magnetic levitation and propulsion.
895.000000 896.000000 Floating trains.
896.000000 897.000000 And medicine.
897.000000 903.000000 MRI machines use incredibly strong superconducting magnets to get detailed images inside the body.
903.000000 907.000000 They even use pulsed electromagnetic fields sometimes to help heal tricky bone fractures.
907.000000 909.000000 It's really a foundational technology.
909.000000 911.000000 Any really weird or surprising uses?
911.000000 912.000000 Hmm.
912.000000 913.000000 Well, how about cow magnets?
913.000000 914.000000 Cow.
914.000000 915.000000 Yeah.
915.000000 916.000000 Magnets.
916.000000 917.000000 Yeah.
917.000000 921.000000 Farmers sometimes feed long, smooth, elnico magnets to their cows.
921.000000 924.000000 Cows graze and sometimes swallow bits of metal wire.
924.000000 925.000000 Nails.
925.000000 929.000000 This can cause hardware designs puncturing their stomach.
929.000000 930.000000 Ouch.
930.000000 935.000000 So the magnet sits in their stomach and attracts any swallowed metal holding it in a safe place so it doesn't cause injury.
935.000000 936.000000 You're kidding.
936.000000 938.000000 Cow is walking around with magnets and their gut collecting nails.
938.000000 939.000000 That's amazing.
939.000000 940.000000 That's true.
940.000000 947.000000 And on the human side, though, it's pretty niche, some people implant tiny, powerful, neodymium magnets into their fingertips.
947.000000 948.000000 Why would you do that?
948.000000 949.000000 To sense electromagnetic fields.
949.000000 954.000000 They can apparently feel the buzz of live wires or the fields around operating electronics.
954.000000 956.000000 A sort of magnetic sixth sense.
956.000000 957.000000 Whoa.
957.000000 959.000000 Okay, that's intense.
959.000000 961.000000 But what about downsides?
961.000000 962.000000 Myths.
962.000000 964.000000 Safety things we should know.
964.000000 966.000000 Besides not swallowing them, I guess.
966.000000 967.000000 Right.
967.000000 970.000000 Definitely don't swallow them, especially the small, strong ones.
970.000000 975.000000 If a child's wall is more than one, they can attract each other across intestinal walls, cutting off blood flow.
975.000000 976.000000 Very dangerous.
976.000000 977.000000 Needs surgery.
977.000000 978.000000 Yikes.
978.000000 979.000000 Good warning.
979.000000 982.000000 What about things like magnetic bracelets for pain?
982.000000 984.000000 Ah, magnet therapy.
984.000000 991.000000 It's popular, but the scientific evidence just isn't there for static magnets curing illness or reliably relieving pain.
991.000000 997.000000 Most studies show effects are likely placebo, or maybe just the effect of, say, a supportive wristband.
997.000000 999.000000 So probably not the magnet itself doing the work?
999.000000 1000.000000 Probably not.
1000.000000 1002.000000 Same for magnetized drinking water.
1002.000000 1003.000000 Water isn't fair or magnetic.
1003.000000 1006.000000 You can't really magnetize it in a meaningful way that would affect health.
1006.000000 1007.000000 Good to know.
1007.000000 1008.000000 Any risks to electronics.
1008.000000 1009.000000 Yes.
1009.000000 1011.000000 Strong magnets can definitely mess with electronics.
1011.000000 1016.000000 They can corrupt data on magnetic storage, like older hard drives or credit card strips.
1016.000000 1018.000000 They can interfere with pacemakers.
1018.000000 1023.000000 So you do need to be careful with the really powerful neodymium ones around sensitive devices.
1023.000000 1025.000000 Okay, so respect the strong ones.
1025.000000 1027.000000 What a journey this has been.
1027.000000 1032.000000 From just sticking stuff to the fridge all the way down to electron spinning and protecting the whole planet.
1032.000000 1035.000000 Magnetism is, wow.
1035.000000 1037.000000 It really is profound, isn't it?
1037.000000 1043.000000 You start with something simple every day, and you peel back the layers to find these fundamental quantum properties of matter.
1043.000000 1049.000000 Like electron spin, manifesting on scales from atoms to planets, it's quite beautiful, really.
1049.000000 1052.000000 It makes you appreciate the invisible forces shaping everything.
1052.000000 1053.000000 Definitely.
1053.000000 1056.000000 And it reminds us there's always more to understand, more to look deeper into.
1056.000000 1058.000000 So, thinking about all this.
1058.000000 1064.000000 If magnetism, this force we sort of take for granted, but is so complex and vital underpinned so much.
1064.000000 1069.000000 What other invisible forces or subtle properties of matter might be out there?
1069.000000 1076.000000 Things are only just beginning to glimpse or understand, they could lead to whole new technologies or understandings we can't even imagine right now.
1076.000000 1081.000000 Maybe the next big thing is hiding in plain sight, just waiting for us to ask the right questions.
1081.000000 1084.000000 And that wraps up today's episode of Everyday Explained.
1084.000000 1087.000000 We love making sense of the world around you, five days a week.
1087.000000 1092.000000 If you enjoyed today's deep dive, consider subscribing so you don't miss out on our next discovery.
1092.000000 1095.000000 I'm Chris, and I'll catch you in the next one.