The ancient Greeks and Chinese basically discovered magnetism. What is magnetism? Magnetism is a force that acts at a distance to strongly attract iron, nickel and cobalt. The ancient Greeks and Chinese found out about some rare stones that attracted metal. They called these "lodestones." They discovered that with these lodestones, if they stroked a steel needle will point north and south. This was the beginning of the magnetic compass. The magnetic compass was used by Columbus when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Around 1600 William Gilbert found out that the Earth, itself was a giant magnet.
The three most commonly used metals for magnetism are iron, nickel, and cobalt. By combining, any of these one will get a permanent source of magnetism called a magnet. There are two types of magnets. Temporary magnets are magnets that are magnetized for a little while and then they stop. There magnetism ends. For example, a temporary magnet can be magnetizing a paper clip and then it will......
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