Diamagnetism facts for kids

Diamagnetism is a type of magnetism. They very weakly repel magnets. Most substances are diamagnetic. It was discovered in 1778 when someone saw that bismuth and antimony repelled a magnet. Diamagnetic things can be levitated. A frog was levitated in a very strong magnet. Water can be repelled by a magnet because it is diamagnetic. It is too weak to be noticed normally, though.

Images for kids

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  Pyrolytic carbon has one of the largest diamagnetic constants of any room temperature material. Here a pyrolytic carbon sheet is levitated by its repulsion from the strong magnetic field of neodymium magnets.

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  Diamagnetic material interaction in magnetic field.

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  Transition from ordinary conductivity (left) to superconductivity (right). At the transition, the superconductor expels the magnetic field and then acts as a perfect diamagnet.

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  A live frog levitates inside a 32 mm (1.26 in) diameter vertical bore of a Bitter solenoid in a magnetic field of about 16 teslas at the Nijmegen High Field Magnet Laboratory.

See also

In Spanish: Diamagnetismo para niños