The humble magnet is used in many things in our home and certainly makes our lives generally a lot easier. From Magnetic dry wipe boards for schools, examples of which can be found at https://wedgewhiteboards.co.uk/, to the use of storage on computer systems magnets are in all parts of our life.
Look and you’ll find a magnet playing a role somewhere in your home. These are incredibly useful tools and the discovery of the power of magnets has been a revolution in our understanding of how things can be done. Some are so small, like the ones you find in debit and credit cards, you won’t notice them up to the enormous ones used in industry. Many are fitted away inside your everyday domestic items quietly doing their job without you really being aware of them, until they breakdown of course! The primary uses of magnets that make our lives better are:
- Hospitals and Health – The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner is a revolution system that allows Doctors to look through the body completely. It also means that they do not have to use a large of amount of X-Ray photography which is expensive and dangerous if to many are done. X-Rays do not always show issues where as an MRI is more comprehensive. Magnets are also used in Cancer treatment. The magnet agent is injected into the cancer and then another is used to accelerate the agent so that it produces heat and destroys the cancer. It means that harmful treatments like Chemo might be avoided plus, as it’s localised, other organs are protected.
- Around the House – You’ve probably got a nice notice board and use magnets to hold those important bits of post to the fridge and, as mentioned before, that little black strip on your bank cards is magnetic and holds all the information that you need to use it. Your Stereo system, Radio and TV use the power of magnets to convey the sound. Magnets manipulate electronic signals converting them via wire to sound waves and then to your ears. Your food blender and Vacuum cleaner all use the principles of a magnetic engine and you can thank the magnet for being responsible for your doorbell working too (so it’s not all positives then…)
- On the Farm – Its well known that cows will pretty much eat anything especially if it’s hidden in the grass. Whilst this is mainly harmless organic material they can sometimes eat metal and that can have a harmful effect on them and their milk production. Magnets are used by the farmer to extract the metal from the cow’s waste. The same process is used to take out any stray metal that may have found it’s way into grains for cereal and bread. This works brilliantly as flour and wheat are not magnetic!
So, as you can see, without the humble magnet our lives would be considerably more difficult. Well done to our sticky metal friends!
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