Welcome back to the Borates Today podcast. Today, we're going to look at boron neodymium magnets. Neodymium magnets are rare earth magnets composed of neodymium, iron boron, and several transition metals. The neodymium elements are classified as rare earth magnets because they lie in the lanthanides section on the periodic table.
A neodymium magnet is a permanent magnet that uses the power of neodymium, one of the strongest substances known. It exhibits superior heat and corrosion resistance and elevated tolerance for ferromagnetic materials in close contact with it.
Transcripts
Brendan:
Welcome back to the Borates Today podcast.
Brendan:
Today, we're going to look at boron neodymium magnets.
Brendan:
Neodymium magnets are rare earth magnets, composed of neodymium iron
Brendan:
boron, and several transition metals.
Brendan:
The elements of neodymium are classified as rare earth magnets
Brendan:
because they lie in the lanthanides section on the periodic table.
Brendan:
A neodymium magnet is a type of permanent magnet that uses the power of neodymium,
Brendan:
one of the strongest substances known.
Brendan:
It exhibits superior resistance to heat and corrosion as well as
Brendan:
elevated tolerance for ferro magnetic materials in close contact with it.
Brendan:
These 'strong for their size' magnets provide the vital components needed in
Brendan:
many modern day devices that we use daily.
Brendan:
It is thought that neodymium magnets are the most powerful, permanent magnet.
Brendan:
This may be because they're one of the smallest types of rare earth magnetic
Brendan:
materials, and thus have a higher density per volume than other more
Brendan:
common metals, such as iron or copper.
Brendan:
Neodymium magnets are the go-to magnet in industries requiring low heat,
Brendan:
high power sources in confined spaces.
Brendan:
Without them, we would not have been able to make advances over the
Brendan:
last 30 years in areas from medicine to renewable energy production.
Brendan:
Since these sectors rely on super strength neodymium magnets to produce a powerful
Brendan:
magnetic field for the motors they use.
Brendan:
Boron neodymium magnets also help hobby enthusiasts in crafts or
Brendan:
modeling because of their strong force.
Brendan:
You can more easily connect two pieces without any welding necessary.
Brendan:
Because they are super strong and resistant to magnetic
Brendan:
demagnetization, these magnets can be made in many shapes and sizes.
Brendan:
They can hold up heavy objects from one place even when you change their
Brendan:
shape, making them an amazing tool.
Brendan:
Let's look at applications of neodymium magnets.
Brendan:
First, the hard disk.
Brendan:
A hard disk drive records data by magnetizing, and demagnetizing a thin
Brendan:
film of ferromagnetic material on a disc.
Brendan:
Each track has many tiny individual magnetic cells, which are magnetized
Brendan:
by the read, write head when data is written to the drive.
Brendan:
Hard drives, use heads crafted from ferrite wrapped an exceptional cord
Brendan:
coil that while energized through an electromagnetic field, or EMF,
Brendan:
forms strong magnets for recording adjacent surfaces, where they write
Brendan:
crucial information about your business or applications process flow
Brendan:
as it moves down through each level of the hierarchy until reaching its
Brendan:
destination at an end user station.
Brendan:
The use of audio equipment such as microphones, acoustic pickups,
Brendan:
headphones, and loudspeakers for making sound, is a further application.
Brendan:
They can be traced back to the permanent magnets and speakers like those found
Brendan:
inside a current carrying coil that converts electricity into mechanical
Brendan:
energy which moves the speaker cone.
Brendan:
The movement causes pressure changes around it resulting
Brendan:
in sounds produced by airwaves vibrating through its surroundings.
Brendan:
In reverse, This process is also used with microphones where diaphragms are attached
Brendan:
to coils situated within magnetic fields created by permanent magnets, creating
Brendan:
electric signals when subjected to sound vibrations from various sources including
Brendan:
human speech or musical instruments.
Brendan:
For magnetically coupled pumps, neodymium magnets have two main
Brendan:
advantages over non-magnetic ones.
Brendan:
The first is that if the impeller becomes obstructed, it can continue to
Brendan:
turn without damaging the motor because they are magnetically connected and
Brendan:
separated only by a thin layer of air.
Brendan:
Secondly, in applications where liquid could potentially seep into the unit,
Brendan:
for example pond motors, it is possible to separate any corrosion damage from
Brendan:
occurring since there's no metal within reach for rust or other decay mechanisms.
Brendan:
Magnetic door catches for use in public, commercial and residential
Brendan:
buildings use neodymium magnets to create magnetic door catches.
Brendan:
Countersunk, or pop magnets, recessed into the surface of a door are used to attract
Brendan:
other wall-mounted magnets or sealed disk.
Brendan:
Strong neodymium magnets will easily hold the weight of heavy doors that can be
Brendan:
opened by hand, which means they don't need any screws or bolts for installation.
Brendan:
Neodymium magnets and jewelry are small and have a counter
Brendan:
-bored neodymium magnet.
Brendan:
These magnets provide the strongest magnetic hold of any material making
Brendan:
them useful on five millimeter diameter pieces for clasps that secure jewelry
Brendan:
together without worrying about it coming undone due to weight loss, or
Brendan:
other issues with clasp closure.
Brendan:
An MRI scanner does not just help doctors see what is going on inside
Brendan:
our bodies but also helps save lives.
Brendan:
The device uses a large magnetic fields to align the protons in your
Brendan:
body and then passes radio frequency waves at you, which produce detailed
Brendan:
images of anything that could be wrong with your internal organs or tissues.
Brendan:
Open MRI machines used by hospitals typically use neodymium magnets
Brendan:
for this purpose because they are stronger than other types of magnets.
Brendan:
The process of eliminating contaminants is a vital step in production and processing.
Brendan:
This can be done using either physical or magnetic separation
Brendan:
methods though the latter is more common due to their versatility.
Brendan:
A lot of magnets usually do the work by attracting ferrous items like metal
Brendan:
while repelling paramagnetic ones, such as plastic bags, which may have been
Brendan:
accidentally introduced into an assembly line at some point during manufacturing.
Brendan:
A reed switch is a magnetic powered switch that detects the opening and closing
Brendan:
of doors in burglary alarm systems.
Brendan:
These switches consists of two ferrous (iron containing) contacts encased in
Brendan:
a sealed glass tube which can be made to open or close by default, depending
Brendan:
on how they are designed when inactive.
Brendan:
Bringing a magnet near it will power the device from inside its
Brendan:
case with an electromagnetic field.
Brendan:
This activates them as well as opens up their hinge at one end so that
Brendan:
pressure may then push them either closed again, if needed for safety
Brendan:
purposes or shut permanently, where applicable per your preference.
Brendan:
Powerful neodymium magnets are popular among craft enthusiasts and model makers.
Brendan:
They generate enough magnetic pull to be effective, even with a tiny magnet,
Brendan:
which makes them the perfect choice for miniature war gaming enthusiasts
Brendan:
who need powerful neodymium magnets to configure models used in games,
Brendan:
such as Warhammer or people who make handmade, stationary, and cards.
Brendan:
Small neodymium magnets are widely used in the print finishing industry
Brendan:
as a thin magnet will be powerful enough to attract another magnet
Brendan:
even if both are secreted beneath the layer of card, paper or plastic.
Brendan:
There are many customers that use magnets as hidden closures for brochures,
Brendan:
binders boxes, and high-end packaging.
Brendan:
If you're looking for a cost effective way to find and retrieve heavy
Brendan:
ferrous items, large neodymium magnets may be just the thing you need.
Brendan:
As neodymium is an incredibly strong magnet that can lift objects, weighing
Brendan:
hundreds of pounds, this makes it perfect for recovering all sorts of metals
Brendan:
from places in deep water or where other methods might not work so well.
Brendan:
There are some hazards related to neodymium magnets, which
Brendan:
are worth calling out here.
Brendan:
Neodymium magnets are the strongest permanent magnet in production.
Brendan:
They can be dangerous if handled carelessly.
Brendan:
So it's important to take precautions when handling them.
Brendan:
Fingers may get pinched between two attracting neodymium magnets and
Brendan:
chips will form on their surfaces by jumping at an attractive object,
Brendan:
such as a metal surface or another ferrous material that contains iron.
Brendan:
These powerful, rare earth magnetic spheres should also never come into
Brendan:
contact with children because their strength means even one small sphere
Brendan:
could cause harm to a child's finger.
Brendan:
It is better for people who intend to construct these devices from scratch
Brendan:
to find ways, not just to keep them separate, but also avoid any injury
Brendan:
caused by mishandling during construction.
Brendan:
And that's all for this podcast.
Brendan:
For more information on topics related to boron neodymium magnets, please
