Wish i knew more

Thanks for the great reference. Slightly disappointing but motivating to to find another way. So if I understand it correctly I could use diamagnetic material being repulsed by multiple directions to create pseudo-levitation?

By suspended I meant to be floating and not be influenced by any outside force other than magnetism. I was hoping to try and build 6 electromagnets and place them in a circle equally spaced so that they would equally attract the paramagnetic material in each direction causing it to float in the middle. I know it would be difficult in the sense that all 6 electromagnets would have to be the exact same strength otherwise it might draw the material to one magnet instead of staying in the middle. what is dangerous about using strong magnetic fields? Also I was wondering if the magnetic fields from the electromagnets would effect each other since I would need them to be close enough for all 6 to draw against the material... would I need to try and sheild the electromagnets from the ones next to it?

I've been trying to figure out which rare earth elements have the strongest attractions to magnetism. Terbium sounded good until I found out the health risks and that it could catch on fire or explode if exposed to water... a bit to unsafe for me to use I think unless I can manage to set up a controlled environment and get a self contained respirator lol. Any ideas on what I could use that would have the strongest paramagnetic attractions but be relatively safe to use? I'm going to need to do a lot of studying before I can figure out all this on my own. I still plan on studying and learning as much as I can on magnetism as I go along but would prefer it not to slow things down. Also if there are any books that you know of that would be good for a beginner like myself that I could buy it would be a big help. I don't want to order one and have it be way over my head and not be able to understand it.

I was able to find some info from everyone's help. Currently considering using tungsten as it is fairly easy to get and at a reasonable price. If I was understanding what I was reading than it seems to have stronger paramagnetic properties than most as well. Haven't looked into diamagnetic materials yet. I appreciate everyone's input, it has all definitely helped guide and speed up everything. Who's knows how long it would have been before I found out about diamagnetic and paramagnetic properties/materials.

Good to know. Glad I joined this forum, I will have to look into paramagnetic materials

That's what I thought. I'm not sure if there is even any type of metal or alloy that will be attracted to magnetism without developing residual magnetism. I was thinking that I might have to use an alloy that will be very lightly attracted to magnetism and increase the strength of the electromagnets. If I can reduce the time that it will be exposed to the electromagnets to a few seconds hopefully this will prevent the material from developing residual magnetism or at least make it dissipate quickly but this still leaves the question of what type to use unfortunately.

I don't know much about magnetism but I thought when exposed to a strong magnetic field for an extended period of time that pure iron would remain magnetised after the magnetic field was removed?If not that would be affordable and the perfect solution. I tried searching the internet but all I can seem to find is explanations on how magnetism works and nothing on the effects of magnetism on different metals.

I am designing an experiment in which I will need to suspend a small amount of an alloy between a series of electromagnets. Is there an alloy that I could use that will be able to be suspended between electromagnets without actually touching them and will not hold any residual magnetism or at the most hold magnetism for a very short period of time? To be honest I'm not even sure if an electromagnet will magnetise metal like other types of magnets will. Any and all input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.