Common Uses of Magnets

Magnetic recording media: VHS tapes contain a reel of magnetic tape. The information that makes up the video and sound is encoded on the magnetic coating on the tape. Common audio cassettes also rely on magnetic tape. Similarly, in computers, floppy disks and hard disks record data on a thin magnetic coating.

Credit, debit, and ATM cards: All of these cards have a magnetic strip on one side. This strip encodes the information to contact an individual's financial institution and connect with their account(s).

Common televisions and computer monitors: TV and computer screens containing a cathode ray tube employ an electromagnet to guide electrons to the screen. Plasma screens and LCDs use different technologies.

Speakers and microphones: Most speakers employ a permanent magnet and a current-carrying coil to convert electric energy (the signal) into mechanical energy (a movement that creates the sound). The coil is wrapped around a bobbin attached to the speaker cone and carries the signal as changing current which interacts with the field of the permanent magnet. The voice coil feels a magnetic force and in response moves the cone and pressurizes the neighboring air, thus generating sound. Dynamic microphones employ the same concept but in reverse. A microphone has a diaphragm or membrane attached to a coil of wire. The coil rests inside a specially shaped magnet. When sound vibrates the membrane, the coil is vibrated as well. As the coil moves through the magnetic field, a voltage is induced across the coil. This voltage drives a current in the wire that is characteristic of the original sound.

Electric motors and generators: Some electric motors rely upon a combination of an electromagnet and a permanent magnet, and much like loudspeakers, they convert electric energy into mechanical energy. A generator is a reverse: it converts mechanical energy into electric energy by moving a conductor through a magnetic field.

Medicine: Hospitals use Magnetic Resonance Imaging to spot problems in a patient's organs without invasive surgery.

Transformers: Transformers are devices that transfer electric energy between two windings of wire that are electrically isolated but are coupled magnetically.

Chucks: Chucks are used in the metalworking field to hold objects. Magnets are also used in other types of fastening devices, such as the magnetic base, the magnetic clamp and the refrigerator magnet.

Compasses: A compass (or mariner's compass) is a magnetized pointer free to align itself with a magnetic field, most commonly Earth's magnetic field.

Art: Vinyl magnet sheets may be attached to paintings, photographs, and other ornamental articles, allowing them to be attached to refrigerators and other metal surfaces.

Science Projects: Many topic questions are based on magnets. For example: how is the strength of a magnet affected by glass, plastic, and cardboard?

Toys: Given their ability to counteract the force of gravity at close range, magnets are often employed in children's toys such as the Magnet Space Wheel and Levitron to amusing effect.

Magnets can be used to make jewelry. Necklaces and bracelets can have a magnetic clasp or may be constructed entirely from a linked series of magnets and ferrous beads.

Magnets can pick up magnetic items (iron nails, staples, tacks, paper clips) that are either too small, too hard to reach, or too thin for fingers to hold. Some screwdrivers are magnetized for this purpose.

Magnets can be used in scrap and salvage operations to separate magnetic metals (iron, steel, and nickel) from non-magnetic metals (aluminum, non-ferrous alloys, etc.). The same idea can be used in the so-called magnet test, in which an auto body is inspected with a magnet to detect areas repaired using fiberglass or plastic putty.

Magnetic levitation transport, or maglev, is a form of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles (especially trains) through electromagnetic force. The maximum recorded speed of a maglev train is 581 kilometers per hour (361 mph).

Magnets may be used to serve as fail-safe devices for some cable connections. For example, the power cords of some laptops are magnetic to prevent accidental damage to the port when tripped over. The MagSafe power connection to the Apple MacBook is one such example.