Why magnets stumped scientists for so long - Rachel Yang (Level 1)

In the early 1900s, scientists Niels Bohr and Hendrika Johanna van Leeuwen found that according to physics rules, magnetism should not exist. But magnets clearly work. Later, scientists discovered tiny particles inside atoms act like small magnets. Each electron has a property called spin, which gives it a magnetic field direction. When many electrons spin in the same direction, their fields line up and the material becomes magnetic. Most materials have paired electrons spinning in opposite directions, so their fields cancel. Some metals like iron have unpaired electrons that can be aligned to make permanent magnets. Scientists also learned to use magnetic fields to study molecules. This led to MRI machines and many other technologies. Magnetism is real and very useful.