Is Brass Magnetic: Debunking the Myth

[iknownth]

The website http://www.ehow.com/how_6365159_tell-metal-gold-brass.html mentions that brass is magnetic but here http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070512044233AA5QE4b many say brass is not magnetic. So, is brass magnetic?

 

[jedishrfu]

To the question whether brass is magnetic, wikipedia says: no it's not ferromagnetic

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

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

 

[iknownth]

"Because brass is not ferromagnetic, it can be separated from ferrous scrap by passing the scrap near a powerful magnet."
This sentence seems contradictory.
Not ferromagnetic but can be separated near a magnet?? What does it mean??

 

[sophiecentaur]

"Because brass is not ferromagnetic, it can be separated from ferrous scrap by passing the scrap near a powerful magnet."
This sentence seems contradictory.
Not ferromagnetic but can be separated near a magnet?? What does it mean??

You remove the ferromagnetic and you're left with the brass? Plus the gold, aluminium, tin etc. of course, which gives you a different problem.

 

[Borek]

You remove the ferromagnetic and you're left with the brass? Plus the gold, aluminium, tin etc. of course, which gives you a different problem.

I'll take the gold, so you have one problem less.

 

[Drakkith]

"Because brass is not ferromagnetic, it can be separated from ferrous scrap by passing the scrap near a powerful magnet."
This sentence seems contradictory.
Not ferromagnetic but can be separated near a magnet?? What does it mean??

The ferromagnetic material is picked up by the magnet, leaving the non ferromagnetic material behind.

 

[fleebell]

There is a brass alloy that is slightly magnetic. It has 1-2% of iron in it. It used to be used quite often for coating ships bottoms to prevent critters from attaching themselves. As far as I know it's not used anymore.

It won't really stick to a magnet though other than with a real slight attraction. I.E. you can't pick a piece of it up with a magnet. You can hang a small piece of it from a thread and move a good magnet close to it and see movement from it due to the magnetic field but it's very small amount of movement.

 

[sophiecentaur]

There is a brass alloy that is slightly magnetic. It has 1-2% of iron in it. It used to be used quite often for coating ships bottoms to prevent critters from attaching themselves. As far as I know it's not used anymore.

It won't really stick to a magnet though other than with a real slight attraction. I.E. you can't pick a piece of it up with a magnet. You can hang a small piece of it from a thread and move a good magnet close to it and see movement from it due to the magnetic field but it's very small amount of movement.

And there are ferrous alloys that aren't noticeably ferromagnetic either. Marine grade stainless steel is a good (and expensive) example.