Elementary Thoughts

Fred

Lilly

“Interesting, we can attach even more paperclips to the other ones.“

“You're right, you can almost make chains. But as soon as we take the magnet away, they hardly attract each other anymore. So they lose their magnetisation! How comes the magnet stays permanently magnetic?“

“I think this is the right explanation:“

a) The elementary magnets in the paperclips align in a specific structure when the magnet is closeby. When the magnet is removed, they lose this alignment again. In a magnet the elementary magnets are always aligned in the same way.

b) When the paperclips and the magnet are separated, the elementary magnets align in a random, irregular structure. In magnets, they realign in such a way that they are structured again.