Iron filings are very small pieces of iron that look like a powder with a dark-grey appearance. As the name suggests, iron filings can be obtained from metal working operations as the scrap material filed off larger iron and steel parts. They are very often used in science demonstrations to show the direction of a magnetic field. Since iron is a ferromagnetic material, a magnetic field induces each particle to become a tiny bar magnet. The south pole of each particle then attracts the north poles of its neighbors, and this process is repeated over a wide area to create chains of filings parallel to the direction of the magnetic field. Iron filings are used in many places, including schools, where they test the reaction of the filings to magnets. They are also used in some toys, most famously Wooly Willy, where they serve to mimic hair on a cartoon face.
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Iron filings in the context of Magnetism
Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, magnetism is one of two aspects of electromagnetism.
The most familiar effects occur in ferromagnetic materials, which are strongly attracted by magnetic fields and can be magnetized to become permanent magnets, producing magnetic fields themselves. Demagnetizing a magnet is also possible. Only a few substances are ferromagnetic; the most common ones are iron, cobalt, nickel, and their alloys.
Iron filings in the context of Solenoid
A solenoid (/ˈsoʊlənɔɪd/) is a type of electromagnet formed by a helical coil of wire whose length is substantially greater than its diameter, which generates a controlled magnetic field. The coil can produce a uniform magnetic field in a volume of space when an electric current is passed through it.
André-Marie Ampère coined the term solenoid in 1823, having conceived of the device in 1820. The French term originally created by Ampère is solénoïde, which is a French transliteration of the Greek word σωληνοειδής which means tubular.