Magnets are found in a number of applications ranging from industrial to medical equipment and home appliances. There are many types of magnets that come in different sizes and grade strengths – from the smallest magnetic particles used to store data on hard drives to strong magnets used in fridge magnets and attachable gadgets.
Let us take a look at a few uses of magnets in our daily life.
At home
Take a good look around your home and you will find magnets in almost everything. From the small refrigerator magnets that you use to hold your daily notes or bottle openers or souvenirs to the small magnet on your refrigerator door that lets you soft close it, to the pocket compass you use to find out directions – you will find them being used every day.
Most of the household appliances including your vacuum cleaners, TVs, radios, food blenders, speakers, and washing machines have electric motors that work by magnetic principles. Magnets are also found in your handheld electronic phones, toys, credit cards, kitchen drawers, etc.
Your automobiles
Magnets offer many benefits to the automobile industry and are used in various stages of the manufacturing process. Magnets are used in automobile door locks, seat belt slots, sunroof applications, ABS braking systems, tracking systems, motion sensors, window wipers, and electric windows.
Magnets are also extensively used to hold heavy automobile parts in the assembly line in an automobile manufacturing process.
Your computer storage
Have you ever thought about how data is written, stored, and read on your computer? The surface of a hard disk is coated with neodymium magnets along with multiple electromagnets.
The motor that runs the eject mechanism of optical disc drives operates using magnets. Similarly, the internal computer fans that are installed to cool the equipment also work on the principle of magnetism.
Health and medicine
The strong magnetic field properties of magnets play a part in the field of medicine. The magnetic resonance imaging machines, commonly known as MRI, used to detect abnormalities inside the human body works on the principle of a powerful magnetic field.
Magnetically-sensitive fluids are used to destroy cancer cells. When injected into an affected area, the magnetic fluids generate heat that kills the cancer cells without harming healthy organs.
Electricity
Magnets are also used to make electricity. The electricity that comes from generators uses magnetic fields to transform mechanical energy into electricity.
Other industrial applications
Magnets are widely used in conveyor belts to transport ferrous materials in industrial units. Magnets are also used to sweep the airport runways to remove any scrap metal that might damage the tyres of the aeroplanes. In the mining industry, magnets are used to separate metal from ore. Similarly, in the pharmaceutical industry, magnets ensure the quality of the product by removing metal impurities from the product.
