WHAT IS THIS? · Industrial magnet and iron filings

Iron chips are captured and organised in the magnetic field of a powerful magnet.

A magnet creates a magnetic field with field lines going from the north pole to the south pole. The field lines cannot be observed with the naked eye, but iron filings can be used to visualise them.

The iron filings’ interior magnetic fields are influenced by the industrial magnet’s powerful magnetic field. The iron filings move according to the magnetic field and become aligned.

The field lines spread in arched lines between the two poles at ever longer distances from the centre. Only at the core is the magnetic field strong enough to fill the field lines with iron filings.