Department of Physics and Astronomy: Publications and Other Research
Date of this Version
1-1958
Abstract
Natural magnets, called lodestones, have been known since ancient times. The lodestone, a magnetic oxide of iron called magnetite (Fe3O4), was mentioned by Thales of Miletus. By the eleventh century the magnetic compass was known to the Chinese, and in the twelfth century references to the compass were made in Western Europe. The lodestone is capable of attracting pieces of iron and of imparting permanent magnetism to other pieces of iron so that these too could attract iron filings. If an iron bar is magnetized, as the result of being near a piece of lodestone, and is then dipped into iron filings, the filings will cling mostly to the ends of the bar, as shown in Figure 29-1. These ends are called the poles of the magnet.
Comments
Published in Physics, by Henry Semat and Robert Katz, New York: Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1958. Copyright © 1958 Henry Semat and Robert Katz. All rights reserved. Used by permission.