How Do Magnets Work?
CrowdScience tries to answer the question what lies behind the power of magnetic attraction.
This deceptively simple question from listeners Andy, Mike and James is actually one of the hardest questions CrowdScience has ever tackled. Why? Because even scientists struggle to explain the true nature of the magnetic force and to do so in a way that even presenter Marnie Chesterton can understand is a serious challenge. What is a magnet? And just what is going on when magnets exert a force?
With the help of Melanie Windridge, Sean Giblin, Steve Bramwell, Charlotte New and Peter Morris we attempt to navigate the oddities of one of the most fundamental phenomena in the universe.
(Image: A horseshoe magnet attracting some hammer nails. Credit: Getty Images)
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Why does the Earth behave like a magnet?
Duration: 01:27
Broadcasts
- Fri 20 Jul 201819:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Sat 21 Jul 201823:32GMTBBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean & News Internet
- Mon 23 Jul 201804:32GMTBBC World Service except Australasia, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Mon 23 Jul 201806:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & Australasia only
- Mon 23 Jul 201810:32GMTBBC World Service West and Central Africa
- Mon 23 Jul 201814:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
Podcast
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CrowdScience
Answering your questions about life, Earth and the universe
