Rare Earth magnets

Some of the most powerful magnets in the world (if not THE most powerful) are made from a special alloy of chemical elements giving them their unique qualities, and called Rare Earth magnets.

These magnets are permanent, meaning the material itself of which they are made is magnetized and they don’t lose their magnetic properties over time.
This advantage of strength, however, comes with a price of brittleness and vulnerability to corrosion.

Types and uses of Rare Earth magnets

Rare earth magnets come in various forms and types and they have many uses. Some of this uses would surprise most people. For example, if you love fishing you might be interested to know that the breaks on your reel contain such magnets. Not many audiophiles know that such magnets are used in speakers and headphones.

Rare earth magnets are also used in hard drives (didn’t they always teach us not to put a hard drive near a magnet?), dynamos of bicycles, cordless tools and more.

Rare earth magnets – what you should look out for

Working with these magnets is no kids play. They are powerful enough to put people in danger of injury. Depending on the size of the magnet, body parts caught between two magnets can suffer injuries and bones might break.
The magnets themselves are so strong that if they hit each other they will most likely chip and minute particles flying in the air can injure anyone nearby.

If swallowed by accident they can disrupt the digestive system to the extent of causing death. Sadly, this is not science fiction and several such cases have been noted in children.

Rare earth magnets can also damage credit cards, hard drives, CRT screens and other appliances when they are placed too near.