i have these magnet bars, but they are very weak. I want to magnetize them more, so they could be stronger, but i don't know how. I tried wrapping around a wire and connecting it to a current, but didn't work. I don't think i did it right. If anyone can help, that would be super!! Thanks in advance!

What you describe is making an electromagnet. It's quite simple really.

 

For this case it involves wrapping a wire around your magnet quite a few times (the more times the better), you probably want to do it a lot of times to make a difference, and then you just attach one end of the wire to the positive side of a battery (or power supply) and the other end of the wire to the negative side of the power supply so that current flows through the wire.

 

This is it, your electromagnet.

 

As long as there is a current (or electricity) flowing through the wire which is in a coil then it will make a magnetic field. If you're using a small power source, like a 1.5V battery then the magnetic field will be really weak... to make an electromagnet stronger you either have more loops or more current (ie. bigger voltage ie. more batteries).

 

Does that help?

Note that this electromagnet you've created will generate a magnetic field similar to the bar magnet, and that the two fields can add to be a bigger one. However, this isn't making the bar magnet permanently stronger. You have to melt it and expose it to a magnetic field to do that.

And remember that by solely heating a magnet you will make it lose it's magnetism, so don't just stick it in an oven or some such and it expect it to get stronger!

but one of my teachers said she had a "magnetizer" and she would just put bars of iron in and make them magnets...

^That could be what Locrian is talking about. Also getting a rod of metal and wiping a magnet (always in the same direction) will magnetise the metal.

but one of my teachers said she had a "magnetizer" and she would just put bars of iron in and make them magnets...

Why the "but" at the beginning?

 

What you said is totally possible... all I said was that if you just heat a magnet up it will lose its magnetism. There are methods to magnetise something just as there are methods to demagnetise something.

cool, how much do you have to heat it, could i stick it in a toaster or something... and will it make that much of an increase? Thanks

No, no, no. First, heating magnets demagnatises them.

Second,DO NOT stick metal in a toaster. Side effects may include death, near death, burns, death, heart damage, brain damage and death.

Short of doing research and making an electromagnet, it doesn't sound like you should be trying any of this stuff. It's a bit beyond your means, I suspect, and you definately should not do something you do not understand.

 

However, that said, for theoretical purposes, I will clarify what other posters have said.

 

To turn a metal into a magnet, it must be *formed* while under the influence of a magnetic field. Basically, as a liquid metal cools, the direction of the spin of certain electrons in certain positions around the atoms of a material solidify - that is, they become set and do not change. Like spins attract. So normally, as a metal cools, there is a random variation of spins on those electrons around the atoms in the material, and they all cancel each other out. If, however, you cool the metal under the influence of a magnetic field, then the spins of the electrons will all solidify in the same direction, and you will have a permanent magnet. So, to make a magnet, you would melt down a metal that can be made into a magnet, put the liquid into a cast, subject the liquid metal cast to a magnetic field, and let it cool. When it is done, you can turn off the field, and the metal will now have a huge number of electrons all with the same spin direction, resulting in a magnet.

 

You can also rub another magnet, or an electromagnet, down (in the same direction, each time; you do this many times) a needle, or other potentially magnetic material. This will allow the outer atoms on the needle to "reset" the spin on their electrons, somewhat, resulting in a weak magnet. This is the only magnet making process you should try at home, aside from electromagnets.

So, to make a magnet, you would melt down a metal that can be made into a magnet[/b'], put the liquid into a cast, subject the liquid metal cast to a magnetic field, and let it cool.

Just to emphasise that part... not all metals can be made into a magnet, only some.

As to why some work and others don't, since we're on the subject ... I believe, but am not sure, that this is due to unfilled orbitals in the material. If all of the orbitals are filled, then each orbital has two electrons, and one has an up spin and one has a down spin, no exceptions. So if a material in it's real-world state has unfilled orbitals, then the electrons in those unfilled, singly-occupied orbitals either have a random net orientation, or, as with magnets, are all aligned in a particular direction.

No' date=' no, no. First, heating magnets [i']de[/i]magnatises them.

Second,DO NOT stick metal in a toaster. Side effects may include death, near death, burns, death, heart damage, brain damage and death.

 

hey, no offense, but you would have to be a complete dumb@$$ to kill youself with a toaster... just a suggestion there

Consult the darwin awards. It's more common than you think!

not more common than "I" think, cuz i know this world is patrolled by too many idiots... some people find it hard to believe, but hey...

Side effects may include death, near death, burns, death, heart damage, brain damage and death.

 

That's awesome

Side effects may include death, near death, burns, death, heart damage, brain damage[/b'] and death.

(Bold added for emphasis)

If you stick metal in the toaster, doesn't it imply that you already suffer from some sense of brain damage?

Hahaha, I guess so.

(Bold added for emphasis)

If you stick metal in the toaster' date=' doesn't it imply that you already suffer from some sense of brain damage?[/quote']

 

not necessarly dude, you can be either be experimenting, or you are really daring and self confident. According to your theory, you can call everyone in the world book of records a retard

Probably quite a few of them are.

not really, i mean the guy who stacked 20 volleyballs on top of each other for example, that's called skill.

how bout the guy that stacked 8 bowling balls on top of each other?

(also i think that every thing is just as retarted as it is brilliant, the only difference is, that the brilliant think that they are doing something important)

so what, the guy's probably rich.. so i could say he would be more sucesfull that most people today. who gives if it's brilliant or what...

A toaster wouldn't melt the magnet since it would not get nearly hot enough and at best would just injure you in some way (as nevermore was saying).

 

The main magnet metal is iron right?