Bar Magnet Uses: 5 Exhaustive Facts and Detailed Insight

In this article, we are going to discuss various applications of the magnet, bar magnet uses, and some details and facts.

The following is a list of some applications of the bar magnet.

What is a bar magnet used for

The bar magnets are widely used in chemical industries, factories, mines, as small tiny chips in electronic devices like TV, computers, mobiles, hard disk, etc.; in toys, and various other electronic devices.

MRI machines: The magnetic resonance imaging machines produce magnetic fields of range 0.5 Tesla to 2.0 Tesla; are used to take pictures of the bones, organs, and tissues of human bodies for detailed studies.

Magnetic therapy: The human body is embodied with a number of molecules that produce small electric currents and this results in a succession of trivial magnetic effects in the human body. When certain health issues arise that are commonly caused by major exposure to radiation, these electromagnetic effects experienced by the body become unstable.

Keeping the body in close contact with a magnet will help in stabilizing the electromagnetic field of the body. This is achieved by using magnetic ornaments, wearing shoe insoles, special mattresses, etc. But too much exposure to the magnetic field causes fibromyalgia, insomnia, arthritis like diseases.

Curing cancer: There are no cures for cancer at present, but there is an alternate treatment to remove the cancerous cells by using magnetic therapy and minimizing the harm, and preventing the danger caused to the immune system. It is a potential treatment that kills cancerous cells. Studies have shown that regular exposure to the magnetic field can kill the most harmful cancerous cells from the body.

Industrial use: Magnets are widely used in industries for collecting loose metals in products. In some industries, magnets are even used to retain the magnetic properties of other ferromagnetic materials and devices.

Chemical use: The magnetic stirrers are used for stirring the mixture to facilitate the mobility of the magnetic materials.

Magnetometer: The first magnetometer was designed by the famous mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, which consist of a bar magnet suspended horizontally by a gold fiber. It is a device used to measure the magnetic force, magnetic dipole moments, the direction of the magnetic field, magnetic field strength, or relative change in a magnetic field.

The magnet is stable and aligned in the direction of the field until no external effects are influenced for a change in the magnetic field set up by the magnet. The gravity of the Earth may affect the magnetic field. Hence, the magnetometer is used in geographical and archaeological surveys as a metal detector, in drilling processes, etc.

Computers: The bar magnets are used in an electronic device are tiny chips, a magnetic element present on a hard disk helps to store the data on the computer which is read by the computer to extract the information on command.

Television: In TVs also, small bar magnets are used. It consists of a small coil of a wire and a magnet, when the current pass through this coil the electrical signals are transformed into sound vibrations.

Generators: When the current flows through the coil inside the motor, due to the presence of the magnet, the electromagnetic force will induce in the coil which will result in the rotation of a motor, thus converting electric energy into mechanical energy.

Mines: The ore extracted from the Earth’s crust comes with many impurities. The valuable elements are then separated using various techniques and one such method is a magnetic separation method. In this method, magnetic separators is used which consist of a rubber belt moving over two rollers. The crushed ore is carried on this moving belt and the magnetic roller on the other end collects the magnetic ores.

Magnetic ornament: Magnet is believed to take out impurities from the human body when it is in contact with skin. Hence, a magnet is kept in touch with the body wearing magnetic bracelets, jewelry, etc.

Food processing industries: Food processing are a major industry for the production, distribution, and supply of food. To produce the food in large quantity the mechanized tools and other equipment are used to make the process easy, efficient, and productive.

The magnets are used in food processing industries to separate metallic pieces from grains, pulses, cereals, etc. Magnetic grills are used to separate ferromagnetic contaminants from granular materials. Magnetic traps are used to remove iron impurities or ferrous irons from milk, buttermilk, cold drinks, oils, etc.

Bar magnet as a compass: A bar magnet always aligns with respect to the Earth’s magnetic field. The south pole of the magnet faces the North pole of the Earth and the north pole of the magnet towards the south pole.

Toys: The bar magnets are often used in toys such as cars, penguin ride, etc. that is responsible for the acceleration of the car or a penguin climbing the steps of the slider.

To separate metals from the garbage: The garbage comes along with a lot of waste products. The bar magnet is used to separate the metallic tools from the garbage. Most of the magnetic metals and equipment are sorted out from the garbage by attaching a large bar magnet on the crane and running it over the dumped garbage. The attached magnetic objects are then collected separately, stored, and processed separately.

Bar magnet as a hook: The key chains are mostly made up of stainless steel, nickel, zinc alloy, etc; which easily attracts towards the magnet; and hence, a bar magnet can be used to hang the keys.

Drawers and containers: The bar magnet is fixed on the edge of the drawers or containers with the clamp fixed on the opposite edge of the container made up of a ferromagnetic material that tends to automatically close when opened.

Magnetic Transformer: The transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another without changing the frequency. The bar magnet is used in the transformer to magnetically couple the current produced in both the coils. The varying electric current induces variations in the electromagnetic force across the coil wounded on a transformer and it induces the voltage.

This effect is amplified by increasing the number of turns in a coil and ofcourse by using a magnet. These are mostly used in microwave circuits and circuit that produces high frequency.

Electric bells: The electric bells works on the application of electromagnet. When the current is applied to the circuit, the rod becomes magnetic and attracts the iron attached to a clapper, and produces a buzzing or ringing sound. These are used in schools as doorbells, fire alarms, in a railway station, in industries.

Electric guitar: The alnico and ceramic magnets are mostly used in electric guitar pickups. Pickups consist of wire and a magnet; different tones can be adjusted by choosing different pickups on guitar.

Bar Magnet Uses in Laboratory

There are various uses of a bar magnet in the laboratories. They are used as stirrers to allow the mixture of the cations and anions in the chemical solution. Bar magnets are also used on the containers to keep them tightly closed. The bar magnet is used in various magnetic experiments like the experiment of Faraday and Henry, to see the presence of current in the coil by connecting the galvanometer, the deflection is observed on a galvanometer when the bar magnet is moved towards the coil.

A bar magnet is also used in various devices like galvanometer, ammeter, voltmeter, etc., in experiments like hall effect, magnetron, to study the magnetic field, flux density, force of attraction and repulsion, etc.

The pencil magnets are mostly used by geologists. It has a stainless steel wire, when it comes in contact with the magnetic substances or rock which constitutes magnetic composition then this metallic wire pivots.

What is bar magnet

A bar magnet is an artificial permanent magnet made up of iron, steel, or an alloy of iron. The shape of a magnet resembles like a bar and hence the name. It has two poles of two different charges; one is attractive towards the ferromagnetic materials and the other repels away.

Properties of the Bar Magnet

The bar magnet aligns in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field when kept freely suspended in the air.

Even after cutting a bar magnet into small pieces, it will behave the same as a bar magnet.

The magnetic field strength of the bar magnet is strongest at the edges of the pole and weakest at the center of the bar magnet.

The direction of the field lines outside the bar magnet is from the North Pole to the South Pole; whereas the direction of the field lines inside the magnet is from the South pole to the North Pole.

The two like poles of the magnet, South-South or North-North pole will repel away from each other; whereas two unlike poles, South-North pole of the magnet will attract towards each other.

The intensity of the magnetic field produced by the bar magnet decreases as the distance between the poles increases.

Classifications of magnets

The magnets can be classified as follows:-

Natural magnets: Natural magnets are those which are readily available on the Earth. Examples could be magnetite, hematite. Both the minerals are found mostly in the laterite soil. The naturally occurring magnets have weak magnetic forces.

Artificial magnets: Artificial magnets are man-made magnets. These magnets have high permeability and produce a strong magnetic field. These magnets are made up of alnico, neodymium, ferrites, etc.

Read more on What is the Magnetic Field Around a Bar Magnet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the magnetic strength of the bar magnet depends upon the distance?

The magnetic field strength is defined as the density of the flux lines crossing the unit length of the material.

The magnetic strength of the bar magnet is more at the edge of the poles and weaker at the middle of both the poles of the bar magnet. The magnetic field decreases as the distance from the poles increases and varies inversely to the cube of the distance between the pole and the point of consideration.

What is a magnetosphere?

The magnetic field lines of the Earth are emanating from the North Pole to the South Pole and run parallel around the middle of the Earth’s surface.

This implies that the magnetic field in the middle of the Earth is negligible. The layer formed due to the magnetic field lines 65,000kms above the Earth’s surface is known as a magnetosphere.

What is a Helmholtz coil?

A Helmholtz coil is used to cancel the external magnetic fields of the Earth and for producing uniform magnetic field intensity nearest to zero.

It consists of two electromagnets, a pair of circular loops wounded with the number of turns of a wire; carrying a current I, and both the loops placed on an equal axis separated by some distance. The current circulating in these coils produces a homogeneous magnetic field in the mid-axis between the two circular coils.

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