Magnets are one of the fundamental elements of physics. This page is designed to provide a general overview of magnets and their uses, as well as an in-depth look at some aspects of magnetism. We all know some situations where magnets are used, such as hanging items on a refrigerator. But other applications are much more useful in our society. They are used in all types of speakers and in many computer parts, including hard drives and floppy disk drives (for recording and reading purposes). Perhaps a more common use that goes unnoticed is the magnetic stripe on credit and debit cards. These have a certain magnetic composition, that's why you need to keep them away from other magnets. Magnets are also used in many motors, in items such as dishwashers, DVD and VHS players, and pagers or cell phone vibrators. Magnets are all dipoles, meaning they all have both a north and south pole. There are no known magnetic monopoles. Looking at magnets from an elementary point of view, opposites attract and like repel. Magnetic field lines always move from the north pole to the south pole, more on that later. Some of the major contributors to magnets are men like Hans Christian Oersted, James Clark Maxwell, William Scoresby, Michael Faraday, and Joseph Henry. Hans Christian Oersted The experiment with a current-carrying wire and a compass led to much of what we know about magnetic fields. James Clark Maxwell discovered relationships between electricity and magnetism, many of which are used in electromagnetic theory. More information on the relationship between magnets and electricity can be found here. William Scoresby used the Earth's magnetic fields to produce powerful magnets. Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry are said to have simultaneously discovered electromagnetic induction, which is the effect whereby the relative motion of a magnet and an electric coil produces a current. There are three types of magnets. Permanent, temporary and electromagnets. Permanent magnets are the most common. Once magnetized, they stay that way (although they may lose much of their magnetic strength). They can be naturally occurring metals. Temporary magnets retain the properties of a magnet while in a magnetic field, but lose these properties once the field disappears. An example of this would be a paper clip that is charged and can act like a magnet for a short time. Electromagnets are wires wrapped around a metal center (usually iron).