Making Magnets for Dummies

the Magnetic field

Researchers at the Antisocial Network run across dozens of questionable freelancer posts every time they fire up their search engines (Google more than Bing, if you're interested). Lots and lots are about do-it-yourself projects or about figuring out what's wrong with your car, but there's also a healthy dose of misinformation about the natural world out there; especially science. J-school, history, poly-sci and English majors are particularly likely to mangle even the most basic science in the search for residual income. Need an example? well take the catalogs.com (formerly known as WhoWhatWhereWhenWhy), where one of our staffers caught contributor M. Dee Dubroff (aka Marjorie Dorfman) attempting to answer the eternal question, "How Are Magnets Made?"

Dubroff begins by repeating the fable of a Cretan (or maybe Indian?) shepherd whose shoes got stuck to a rock:

"4,000 [years ago a shepherd named Magnes]... was herding his sheep in an area known as Magnesia... when both the nails in his shoes and the metal tip of his staff suddenly became affixed to the rock on which he was standing. He dug up the earth and discovered the source, lodestones, which contain magnetite. The rock was either named after Magnesa or Magnes himself..."

Ummm, 1) magnetite's a mineral, not a "rock"; and 2)  what's the likelihood that a Cretan shepherd was wearing nailed shoes in 2000 BCE? We love apocryphal bull, don't you? OK, with that out of the way, Marcy begins the "informative" part of her article. Remember, it's titled "How are magnets made?"...

"The question of how are magnets made is answered by the use of metal elements and alloys. Until recently, these materials produced all magnets of different strengths. Nickel, iron or cobalt are the basic materials." We found "the use of metal elements and alloys" to be a rather... feeble answer to a pretty basic question, don't you think? Besides, she forgot gadolinium and dysprosium... And we're still waiting for that "how to" part, M. Dee! Ahhh, here it is: "...when these materials are exposed to a magnetic field, the structure of the material is altered on a microscopic level and rearranged in polarized lines. When enough of the metals are polarized, it becomes a magnet..."

Oooh, now there's some science-y words: "exposed... microscopic... polarized!" Yee-hah! But Marcy forgot heating, electrical currents, stroking, and even impact: yes, you can magnetize a steel rod by smacking it repeatedly on one end with a hammer! But let's correct some scientific illiteracy first: magnetism doesn't occur at a "microscopic level," it's a property at the quantum level. And what's this bullshit about "When enough of the metals are polarized, it becomes a magnet"? Does Dubroff mean "metal atoms?" Even then, she's wrong: the atoms aren't "polarized," their atomic structures are parallel. Suffice it to say that this sophomoric discussion is... illiterate, at best.

Dubroff completes her thesis by explaining that

"The question of how are magnets made concerns a process involving magnetic fields and polarized lines that has changed little down through the years..."

...even though she merrily listed modern developments in magnets such as ceramic, alnico and rare earth magnets; even faithfully copying the word "neodymium" from somewhere. Whatever the case, it's perfectly clear that this freelancer knew jack about magnets and magnetism, and her readers know exactly the same after reading her rubbish. For that, Marjorie is the winner: a Dumbass of the Day!

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SI - MAGNETISM