What Are Neodymium Magnets?

A neodymium magnet is a type of permanent magnet made from neodymium, iron, and boron. Neodymium magnets are artificially created to produce strong magnetic fields and are the most widely used rare-Earth magnets in the world. General Motors and Sumitomo Special Metals first created neodymium magnets in 1982. They have been used ever since in applications that require a strong permanent magnet. Some examples of devices that use neodymium magnets are motors, hard drives, and magnetic fasteners.

How Neodymium Magnets Work
Neodymium magnets have a tetragonal crystalline structure. This means that a neodymium magnet’s basic structure consists of a rectangular prism that has a high potential for storing magnetic energy. Aside from this fact, neodymium magnets are based on the same principle as any other permanent magnet: spinning electrons align themselves in order to spread apart and gain more potential energy. As the electrons move around a nucleus in an aligned manner, they produce a magnetic field.

Applications
Neodymium magnets are widely used in applications that require a strong permanent magnet. They have replaced other permanent magnets in common objects such as hard drives and other electronic devices because they produce a stronger magnetic field, resulting in smaller, lighter magnets that produce the same effects. For example, neodymium magnets are used in many cordless power tools’ motor such as drills, saws, and can openers. Neodymium magnets are also used in other types of motors and can be used in audio devices such as loudspeakers, headphones, and guitar pickups.

Advantages
Neodymium magnets have several advantages. For example, neodymium magnets are much more powerful than other permanent magnets and can therefore be used on a smaller scale to produce the same magnetic fields. They also have a high resistance to losing their magnetic properties, while weaker permanent magnets can sometimes become demagnetized under certain conditions.

Disadvantages
Although neodymium magnets can be advantageous, they also have several disadvantages. For example, neodymium magnets that are larger than several centimeters can produce magnetic fields strong enough to cause injury to body parts smashed in between them. Also, neodymium magnets can attract each other with enough force to damage themselves and send pieces of the magnetic material flying in random directions. Neodymium magnets may pose a risk to electronic devices as their magnetic fields are strong enough to erase data stored on hard drives, memory cards, credit cards, and other devices that depend on magnetic forces for storing data.