Can Magnetic Fields be Reflected or Guided by Materials?

[yashiekh]

Are there any materials out there that can reflect magnetic fields, or can a twisted channel be formed for them to follow?

 

[mgb_phys]

Not reflect ( that I know of )
There are materials that don't let magnetic fields through them ( superconductors or mu-metal ) and you can contain and direct a magnetic field in somthing like the soft iron core of a tansformer.

 

[berkeman]

You can check out the different types of magnetic materials here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_materials

And yes, some materials attract magnetic fields, and others repel them.

 

[gaming_addict]

Like mgb_phys, examples of this is diagmagnetism which is a property of superconductors. It will repel any kind of magnetic field no matter what orientation. You can make it follow a twisted path. Like a twisted iron core for example, the magnetic field will go through the iron core, follow the twist, providing you also wound a coil around the twisted iron core following the twist

 

[berkeman]

Like a twisted iron core for example, the magnetic field will go through the iron core, follow the twist, providing you also wound a coil around the twisted iron core following the twist

That's not quite accurate. A magnetic field will follow an iron core whether or not there is a coil around the core. An external magnetic field is attracted to the high-mu iron core, and then prefers to travel along inside it, as opposed to out in the air. That is the principle behind magnetic shielding, for example.

 

[yashiekh]

Could a magnetic field possible be channeled to follow a certain path by other magnetic fields?

 

[mgb_phys]

I wouldn't think so, at least not at realistic field strengths.