Is Water Magnetic ? 5 Facts You Should Know !

Water is an inorganic and transparent substance which is made of hydrogen and oxygen. Let us focus on whether water is magnetic in nature or not.

Water exhibits magnetism under the effect of strong magnets. If water comes in contact with a very strong magnet it gets repelled slightly in the opposite direction of the direction of the external magnetic field of that magnet. Using a neodymium magnet it can be checked that water repels under its magnetic effect.

Let us have a look at is water magnetic,is distilled water magnetic,what is the reason of distilled water being magnetic,magnetic properties of water and many more questions like these.

Is pure water magnetic?

Pure water is that form of water from which all the dissolved salts have been evaporated. It is also known as distilled water. Let us know whether pure water is magnetic or not.

Pure water is nearly non magnetic by nature. Only if it is kept at a very strong external magnetic field does it show some magnetic properties like repulsion from the magnetic field lines in the opposite direction.

A contradiction to the above result is there when pure water is kept at temperatures between 25 and 37 degree C and at a frequency range of 500 KHz to 1 MHz. Under these conditions pure water exhibits paramagnetic behaviour.

Is distilled water magnetic?

Distilled water is the purest form of water. Let us have a look at whether distilled water is magnetic naturally or not.

Distilled water is diamagnetic. The value of magnetic susceptibility of distilled water is -9.05 ppm. This signifies that distilled water does not retain any magnetic property within it because diamagnetic substances usually have magnetic susceptibility less than 1 and this exhibits their non magnetic behaviour.

Distilled water can only repel a magnet when it is brought closer to the distilled water. Distilled water does not have unpaired electrons in its atomic structure. The paired electrons in its structure are directed in opposite directions with respect to each other which makes it non magnetic.

Why is water diamagnetic?

The materials that have weak and magnetic susceptibility in the external magnetic fields are known as diamagnetic materials. Let us know the reason why water is diamagnetic.

Water is diamagnetic because it has only paired electrons and no unpaired electrons in its atomic structure. According to Pauli’s exclusion principle the same quantum state can never be occupied by two electrons and the spins of electrons must be in opposite directions which makes the net magnetic moment zero.

If a superconducting magnet is brought closer to water molecules they create their own magnetic fields and repel the magnetic. This is what is known as diamagnetism.

Water magnetic properties

Water is a universal solvent with so many uses. Water has several physical,chemical as well as magnetic properties. The magnetic properties of water are:

Water is a substance which is weakly diamagnetic in nature.
Water only shows a repulsion effect after coming under the influence of a superconducting magnet which has a minimum magnetic field of 15 – 20 Tesla. It does not attract a magnet.
The spin of the hydrogen atoms or the protons is used in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine that acts under the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR).
Heavy hydrogen or deuteron has a spin of 1 (+1,0,-1). As in water molecules the electrons are paired hence the net magnetic moment is zero. In case of heavier particles the magnetic moment is smaller and in case of lighter particles the magnetic moment is greater.
In case of repulsion of a magnet by water the direction in which the magnet moves after repulsion is opposite to the direction of the magnetic field of the magnet.

Water magnetic susceptibility

Magnetic susceptibility of a substance is defined as a measurement of the magnetization of that substance in an applied magnetic field. Let us know the value of magnetic susceptibility of water.

The value of magnetic susceptibility of water in the CGS unit is 7.19 x 10^-7 at the temperature of 20 degree C and the value of susceptibility in the SI unit is 9.04 x 10^-6 at the same temperature. Both CGS and SI conventions do not have dimensions as magnetic susceptibility is a dimension quantity.

Water magnetic permeability

Permeability measures magnetization which is obtained by a substance when it comes under the effect of an applied magnetic field. Let us know the value of water magnetic permeability.

The value of magnetic permeability(μ = H/m) of water is 1.256627 x 10^-6 and the value of maximum relative permeability of water is μ_r=μ/μ₀ = 0.999992 which signifies the ratio between the effective magnetic permeability of water and absolute permeability of water.

Relative permeability is a dimensionless quantity as it is a ratio between the same quantities.

Is heavy water magnetic?

Heavy water is also known as deuterium oxide or D₂O as it only contains deuterium or heavy hydrogen in it. Let us have a look if heavy water exhibits magnetism.

Heavy water is not magnetic as it is a diamagnetic substance. The magnetic susceptibility of heavy water is 0.638 x 10⁶at ordinary temperature. It means that a magnet can move away from the heavy water if it is brought closer to the heavy water.

Is tap water magnetic?

Water that is coming out from a tap is basically running in nature. Let us focus on whether tap water is magnetic by nature or not.

Tap water (H₂O) contains 10 electrons which means that there are 5 pairs of electrons in water and no unpaired electrons. As even number of e⁻s present in a molecule of water makes it diamagnetic,it does not show magnetic properties. Only repulsion takes place when a strong magnet is brought closer to water.

Only sensitive instruments can be used to detect the repulsion that takes place when a strong electromagnet is brought closer.

Conclusion

In this article 5 important facts related to magnetism of water have been discussed in a brief way. The facts are whether pure water is magnetic or not,whether heavy water is magnetic or not,what are the magnetic properties of water,why water exhibits diamagnetism and many more queries like these.

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