Magnetite

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Magnetite, the original magnet, is also know as ‘lodestone’. You may be familiar with the Marvel Comic character, Lodestone.

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Magnetite sands eroded from magnetite bearing rock, and can be economically viable sources of iron ore.

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One of the main sources of magnetite, and hence iron ore, is found in the banded iron formations of North America and Australia.

Magnetite is the source of the modern compass.

The needle in a compass is iron that was magnetized by being struck against magnetite.

It aligns itself with the Earth’s magnetic field.

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You can make a simple compass.

Embed a magnet in a foam tray, and float in a bucket of water. The north end of the magnet will point to magnetic north.

Compass invention made sea navigation, commerce and warfare possible.

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Iron Age tools and weapons were made from

iron ore like magnetite.

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Long before the compass was invented,

This man has taught himself to live as if he were in the iron age.

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You know that magnetite is a source of iron, and also that steel is mostly iron. So magnetite is a source for the steel that makes the backbone of our society.

In this photo a medieval re-enactor is making a steel sword.

Magnetite and hematite are the main iron ores. After mining, the ores are processed into iron or steel and then made into cars, trucks, ships, and the structural support of buildings and highways.

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One of the most common forms of magnets today, ceramic magnets are made in molds from powders of iron ore and other materials.

These are the magnets that are in speakers.

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Iron filings are used to dust for invisible fingerprints. The wand has a magnet in the handle which picks up filings, and when it is pulled away the filings fall. The fingerprint oils hold the filings.

This fMRI, a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, uses magnets (or electromagnets) to learn about brain function.

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Check out what happens if you put a magnet near your computer screen!

This could wreck your screen. Do not do it.

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Magnetite in a meteorite raised hopes of life on Mars.

Some bacteria align themselves to the Earth’s magnetic field. These bacteria precipitate chains of magnetic crystal in their cells, like below.

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When NASA scientists looked at a meteorite from Mars, they found chains of magnetite (see left) that looked similar to chains produced only by living organisms. Unfortunately, similar magnetite chains were created inorganically not long after.

Magnetite

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