do u know how refrigerator magnets work?

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nirgis

Senior member
Mar 4, 2001
636
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n0b7e,

you're new here, maybe there's some things you should understand. Frequently people post question asking how to do their homework, they expect members to respond and then not have to work. We don't mind intelligent questions or thought-provoking ones. Its the ones, where its obvious that the writer has no clue what they're talking about that gets people pissed and expects others to carry the load for them. I don't know what level of physics you're at, but I think most would agree that oppositely poled magnets attracting each other is assumed knowledge. Perhaps instead of reading this board for answers you should consult your textbooks.

BTW I am seriously concerned that you honestly thought cold-ocular... whatever was the source of magnetism
 

Jothaxe

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2001
1,274
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<< I don't know what level of physics you're at, but I think most would agree that oppositely poled magnets attracting each other is assumed knowledge. >>



nirgis, this is where the problem arose. Although it may seem like &quot;oppositely poled magnets attracting each other&quot; is the answer, and that it is too obvious to bother giving him the time of day, this is a mistake.

The fact is that if you take a magnet with a distinct north and south pole, then
both poles will attract to the metal of a fridge equally well.

The metal of the fridge is not a magnet itself, so when strong field lines of either orientation come near, the particles arrange themselves and the oppositely oriented dipole is temporarily created in the metal of the fridge.

It is a very bizarre thing that refrigerator magnets are able to cause this effect only on one side precisely because it should be a symmetrical effect unless the magnet has been specifically designed to act otherwise.

It is far from obvious what sort or anisotropic arrangement of dipoles is necessary to make this happen, and this was n0b7e's question.

If you know the answer, by all means explain, but there is little need to tell him that he should go re-read his text book. The answer wont be in it, I can promise you that... ;) :):):)
 

Cyberian

Diamond Member
Jun 17, 2000
9,999
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<< This means that an electric company can sell the customer the same batch of electricity thousands of times a day and never get caught, since very few customers take the time to examine their electricity closely. >>



Whenever I unplug an appliance, I place a bowl under the outlet to collect all the electrons that now have no place to go.
My electric bill has dropped to almost nothing!


(Dave Barry may be the funniest person I have ever read!)
 

Jothaxe

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2001
1,274
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<< Foods always been a refrigerator magnet for me:) >>



Once again Red Dawn, you have managed to take something that some might find complex, and show how straightforward it really is ;););)


FOOD?! DOH! I knew the answer couldnt be that tricky! :)
 

warlord

Golden Member
Oct 25, 1999
1,557
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I think I lost brain cells reading this thread. I can't believe n0b7e actually believes any of this, so which one of you is pretending to be him?

I will admit I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. :D:D:D
 

Jothaxe

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2001
1,274
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<< (Dave Barry may be the funniest person I have ever read!) >>



I fully agree.

That electricity thread is a riot! I am going to copy and save it for later...
 

Valhalla1

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 1999
8,678
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I just want to say that the Harvey/Littleprince &quot;cold oscillator&quot; theory was either pure genius, or an inside joke amongst physics students.

I can't say because I'm a CS guy, more into Biology though, not physics.

 

n0b7e

Banned
May 30, 2001
243
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Nirgis what the hell are you talking about - &quot;I think most would agree that oppositely poled magnets attracting each other is assumed knowledge. &quot;

I didn't ask about oppositely poled mags... and if you read the entire thread which i seriously doubt, you may have noticed that i said opposite poles attract and same repel.... your a senior member so im not going to call you an idiot because obviously you have participated in many threads long before i arrived so maybe you are helpful to others. But as far as this thread goes, you dont know what your talking about.

Y R We still discussing this?
 

Valhalla1

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 1999
8,678
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umm...


&quot;...the particles arrange themselves and the oppositely oriented dipole is temporarily created ...&quot;


&quot;It is far from obvious what sort or anisotropic arrangement of dipoles is necessary...&quot;


&quot;...are able to cause this effect only on one side precisely because it should be a symmetrical effect unless ...&quot;



:confused:


..ps - pass the peace pipe. :confused: :confused:
 

Jothaxe

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2001
1,274
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<< ..ps - pass the peace pipe. >>



uh huhuhuh

uh this pipe thing roolz...

Idunnoifyou w a n n a t r y what I haveinit tho, itmakesyoufeel k i n d a f u n n y, and you say CLEAVER THEENGS


:) ;) :)

-jothaxe

 

Jothaxe

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2001
1,274
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<< I just want to say that the Harvey/Littleprince &quot;cold oscillator&quot; theory was either pure genius, or an inside joke amongst physics students.

I can't say because I'm a CS guy, more into Biology though, not physics.
>>



No, thats not an inside joke among physicists. It was a pure genius thing on their part... ;)
 

Recneps

Senior member
Jul 2, 2000
232
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Maybe the one sided magnet is created by the makers taking a sheet of thin nonmagnet matreal and addeding plastic and picture to the back side. The metal is then turned into a magnet by using other magnets to algin the atoms in the proper way be repeatedly passing a magnet over the metal which would now have a very light magnetc field. This could be an advantage in the production of magnets becuase they would not stick to the equpment until the last stage of production
 

Buddhist

Golden Member
Jan 15, 2000
1,776
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Define Irony.

&quot;well im not a dumbass so they wouln't accuse me of cheating, besides, i always use Word's thesaurus to make my work seem more intelligent then it reall is.&quot;

-M.T.O
 

LordMaul

Lifer
Nov 16, 2000
15,168
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<< Everyone on this board is at least one of the following, if not many or all:
A closet psychologist.
A closet mathematician.
A closet physicist.
A closet computer programmer.
>>



Yep. I am every one of those. :eek:
 

WarCon

Diamond Member
Feb 27, 2001
3,920
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Thank you all for this rather amusing little stroll through absurdity. It has been almost as enjoyable as that.... do you do your own laudry thread. That one had me laughing too hard.

All I have to say about refrigerator magnets is ...........
 

Ameesh

Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
23,686
1
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<< Nirgis what the hell are you talking about - &quot;I think most would agree that oppositely poled magnets attracting each other is assumed knowledge. &quot;

I didn't ask about oppositely poled mags... and if you read the entire thread which i seriously doubt, you may have noticed that i said opposite poles attract and same repel.... your a senior member so im not going to call you an idiot because obviously you have participated in many threads long before i arrived so maybe you are helpful to others. But as far as this thread goes, you dont know what your talking about.

Y R We still discussing this?
>>



if you think refigerator magnets are not dipole, maybe you should goto the nobel committee and tell them &quot;hey i found the first monopole magnet &quot; :)
 

Jothaxe

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2001
1,274
0
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<< if you think refigerator magnets are not dipole, maybe you should goto the nobel committee and tell them &quot;hey i found the first monopole magnet &quot; >>



Ameesh

I dont think anyone is trying to assert the existence of a magnetic monopole, and yet nobody has given any real insight into what is really a good question.

Why the hell is the damn magnet non-symmetric in the way it sticks to the fridge?

It is definately possible to arrange many small dipoles into a conglomerate that does not act like a single larger dipole. The question is how do they do this in thin refrigerator magnets?

If you truly can explain, please do so because this question has gone unanswered for two days now... which is a long time considering how many bright people there are that hang out here.
 

Belegost

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
1,807
19
81
Experiment notes: I too have observed the phenomenom as reported by Jothaxe. Test material was formerly a free advertisement card from local pizzeria, after carefully removing the paper from the magnnetic backing I proceeded to test for single sided sticking behaviour, and successfully observed said behaviour on multiple occasions. Further testing was done on the side of a standard PC enclosure (steel) and the same phenomenom was observed, negating the idea of cold seeking material. (my computer emits heat) I then proceeded to test the magnetic properties of the substance as follows:
Physical shock: Used a 4lb sledge to beat upon the magnetic strip while it sat on a concrete base. Result: No change in magnetic properties.
Heat: Held test material over open naturral gas flame for approx. 1 min at a height of rouughly 2 inches. The material began bubbling on the surface, and emitting a dense grey smoke. A smell of burning plastic was noticed. Results: Despite my previously held belief that such a heating would seriously disrupt the magnetic properties of the material, it amazingly retains the same properties, though without proper test equipment I'm unable to determine if their has been a change in strengh or direction of the magnetic field.

Further tests are planned when further funding can be obtained for a new plasto-magnetic test subject, as the original subject is no longer fit for continued use. Perhaps testing the reaction of the material with microwave radiation will shed somme light on the subject.
 

StuckMojo

Golden Member
Oct 28, 1999
1,069
1
76

ROFL :)

and i was about to say &quot;hey! it was me that noticed they're really one sided...&quot;.

gimme yer address, i have many test subjects i have harvested from their natural habitat on my fridge door ;)
 

MereMortal

Golden Member
Oct 16, 2000
1,919
2
81
And now the answer you've been waiting for!

The magnetic sheets used for frig magnets consist of a ferrite powder in some elastomer or rubber. The sheet is magnetized in such a way that there are strips of alternating poles (as some of you surmised). You can feel 'jumps' if you slide two similar frig magnets on top of each other, as the poles line up and the magnets are alternately attracted and repelled.

This pole alternating technique increases the field gradient near the surface of the magnet, at the expense of a rapidly declining field away from the surface. It has also been noted that frig magnets are one-sided. This is simply due to the fact that on the non-magntic side, poles are arranged to effectively cancel out the field.

If you are interested you should check out this site, as it has some nice figures and a cool little movie showing the 'jump' effect I mentioned above.
 

n0b7e

Banned
May 30, 2001
243
0
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damn it you couldn't respond sooner. Your 3 days late, arrgghh, i took an idiot's answer already. O well maybe next time someone will respond sooner and seriously then this joke for a thread.
 

rahvin

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,475
1
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Duh dude, two other people already told you that. YOu choose to believe in cold seeking oscilators.