Howdy sudongpo-ga,
This web page on "Magnetism and Electromagnetism," describes the electron
configurations that determines the magnetic qualities of a metal.
http://www.bfafairfax.com/~pfeiffer/Physics/EandM/magnetism.html
"What makes a substance magnetic? Magnetism is determined at the subatomic
level by the presence or absence of unpaired electrons"
The article goes on to describe some of the different categories of magnetism
and the strength, or lack of magnetic attraction, and elements that fit in
these categories.
"...
Ferromagnetic
several unpaired electrons
strongly attracted to a magnet
Fe, Co, Ni, Gd
Paramagnetic
a few unpaired electrons
weakly attracted to a magnet
O2, Mn
Diamagnetic
no unpaired electrons
weakly repelled by a magnet
N2
..."
The free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, goes into more detail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetism
"Thus, in the case of an atom with a completely filled electron shell or
subshell, the magnetic moments normally completely cancel each other out
and only atoms with partially filled electron shells will have a magnetic
moment, whose strength depends on the number of unpaired electrons."
You might want to read the above Wikipedia entry in detail, as it has links
to more information on ferromagnetism, for instance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferromagnetism
"In many materials (specifically those with a filled electron shell), however,
the electrons come in pairs of opposite spin, which cancel one another's dipole
moments. Only atoms with unpaired electrons (partially filled shells) can
experience a net magnetic moment from spin. A ferromagnetic material has many
such electrons, and if they are aligned they create a measurable macroscopic
field."
If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.
Search strategy:
Google search on: "what determines" magnetic
://www.google.com/search?q=%22what+determines%22+magnetic
Google search on: "unpaired electrons" magnetism
://www.google.com/search?q=%22unpaired+electrons%22+magnetism
Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher |
