What Is Magnetism?

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Magnetism is a physical phenomenon which is mediated by magnetic fields. Elementary particles give rise to magnetic fields by using electric currents and intrinsic magnetic moments which interact with other electric currents and magnetic moments. To some extent every material is influenced by magnetic fields. Some materials, known as permanent magnets, have persistent magnetic moments which interact with external magnetic fields resulting in attractive or repulsive behavior. These materials have intrinsic magnetic domains aligned in a pattern and owe this behavior due a phenomenon known as ferromagnetism. Most materials do not have permanent magnetic moments and are either attracted or repelled by a magnetic field. Materials that are attracted …show more content…

Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism is the tendency of a material to oppose an externally applied magnetic field and hence be repelled by a magnetic field. It is the property of all existing materials. However, in case of paramagnetic materials the paramagnetic behavior dominates and hence they tend to enhance the external magnetic field. Although the property is present in all materials the diamagnetic nature can only be observed in pure diamagnetic materials.
In a diamagnetic material, there are no unpaired electrons, so the intrinsic electron magnetic moments cannot produce any net magnetic effect. The magnetization, in these cases, arise from the electron orbital motion which in terms of classical physics is explained as such:
The electrons circling the nucleus experience Coulomb force due to the difference in their electric charge. When a material is put in an external magnetic field, these electron experience an additional force, known as the Lorentz force, from the magnetic field. This force may result either in the increase of centripetal force on the electrons hence pulling them towards the nucleus, or it may result in the decrease of the centripetal force on the electron hence pulling them away from the nucleus, depending on the direction in which the electrons are orbiting. In accordance with Lenz’s law, this effect will increase the orbital magnetic moments that were aligned opposite to the applied field and decrease the orbital magnetic moments that were aligned parallel to the external magnetic field. This results in a small net magnetic moment, acting in the direction opposite to the applied magnetic

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