I have recently purchased neodynium magnets and they are very powerful for their size.

It got me wondering, what makes a magnet magnetic?

Also, what makes something magnetic (eg. a paper clip)?

 

Lastly, I was wondering what makes a mirror so reflective?

Could it be that there is a tight pack of electron that are deflecting the photons and so acting like a mirror?

 

Thanks

Ferromagnetism requires unpaired electrons and a material that can be physically set into domains where the magnetic fields from these electrons add together. The magnetic response of materials depends on their electron structure as well. The fields can either add to or subtract from the external field, i.e. you can get attraction or repulsion.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetism

 

Smooth metallic surfaces tend to reflect because the abundance of electrons free to respond to the EM field, as you surmised. (wikipedia link)

Thanks for the links. I will give them a read now