Name: Kathryn M.

Navarro
Subject: Sci 12 (Physics for Health Science)
Professor: Sonia Barba

Magnetism
Magnetism is a class of physical phenomena that are mediated by magnetic fields.

Perhaps the most familiar magnets are the small ones used to stick notes on
refrigerators. Of course, compass needles also are magnets; mounted on low-friction pivots,
they align themselves along the earth’s magnetic field. The earth itself is in fact a gigantic
magnet.
Magnets exert forces on one another and on some materials, such as iron. This forces is the
magnetic forces, which is another manifestation of the electromagnetic force. Magnets and
magnetism are named after Magnesia, a region in Asia Minor where ancient peoples found
rocks that would attract or repel one another. Those rocks (called lodestones) contain iron, one
of only few elements that can be permanently magnetized. Magnets attract even unmagnetized
iron. Iron and other materials that can be permanently magnetized, such as nickel, cobalt, and
gadolinium, are called ferromagnetic materials after the Latin word for iron.
All magnets have two poles. These are named north and south poles because one end of
magnet is attracted almost directly toward the geographic north pole of the earth and the
other end toward the geographic south pole of the earth.
All electric currents create magnetic fields.

Medical Uses of Magnetic Fields

One convenient property of magnetic fields is that they penetrate tissue and have relatively
little effect on stationary nonferromagnetic materials. This means that magnetic fields can be
used to probe the body with few adverse effects.
Magnetocardiogram (MCG) give information not obtained in electrical measurements of the
heart, but their usefulness as a diagnostic tool is not well enough established to justify the
expensive equipment needed to make the measurement
Recordings of magnetic brain waves, called magnetoencephalograms (MEG), are uncommon
because of their difficulty. As with the heart, the magnetic field of the brain gives different
information than electric signals from the brain. The usefulness of the MEG as a diagnostic tool
is not yet known.
Nuclear Magnetic resonance (NMR) and is called NMR imaging. The nuclei of some atoms have
small magnetic fields because their spins, just as electrons do.

Other uses of Magnetic Fields

Magnetism is a common phenomenon. Its use ranges from mundane door latches to
sophisticated medical imaging. One increasingly common use of magnetism is information
storage. Video and stereo recordings are often made on magnetic tape. Computers almost
always use magnetic devices to record and store information, usually on magnetic tapes or
disks.
 Quiz:
1. Give the materials that can be permanently magnetized.
Answers: iron, nickel, cobalt, and gadolynium
2. What are the two names after magnesia?
Answers: magnets and magnetism
3. Give one medical use of magnetic fields.
Answer: magnets can be used to direct catheter through the circulatory system
4. What is the equipment used to measure the magnetic field of the heart?
Answer: magnetocardiogram
5. What is magnetism?
Answer: Magnetism is a class of physical phenomena that are mediated by magnetic fields.