Editing Magnet (section)

==Common uses==
[[File:Hard disk.jpg|thumb|[[Hard disk drive]]s record data on a thin magnetic coating]]
[[File:Magnetic separator hg.jpg|thumb|Magnetic hand separator for heavy minerals]]
* Magnetic recording media: [[VHS]] tapes contain a reel of [[magnetic tape]]. The information that makes up the video and sound is encoded on the magnetic coating on the tape. Common [[compact audio cassette|audio cassettes]] also rely on magnetic tape. Similarly, in computers, [[floppy disk]]s and [[hard disk]]s record data on a thin magnetic coating.<ref name=Mallinson>{{cite book|last=Mallinson|first=John C.|title=The foundations of magnetic recording|publisher=[[Academic Press]]|year=1987|edition=2nd|isbn=0-12-466626-4}}</ref>
* [[Credit card|Credit]], [[debit card|debit]], and [[automatic teller machine]] cards: All of these cards have a magnetic strip on one side. This strip encodes the information to contact an individual's financial institution and connect with their account(s).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-management/credit-card2.htm|title=The stripe on a credit card|work=How Stuff Works|access-date=19 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624104849/http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-management/credit-card2.htm|archive-date=2011-06-24}}</ref>
* Older types of [[television]]s (non flat screen) and older large [[computer monitor]]s: TV and computer screens containing a [[cathode-ray tube]] employ an electromagnet to guide electrons to the screen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/java/cathoderaytube/index.html|title=Electromagnetic deflection in a cathode ray tube, I|work=National High Magnetic Field Laboratory|access-date=20 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403021037/http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/java/cathoderaytube/index.html|archive-date=3 April 2012}}</ref>
* [[Sensor]]: Permanent magnets are useful components for fabricating magnetic sensors for the detection of motion, displacement, position, and so forth.<ref>FRADEN, JACOB (2004). HANDBOOK OF MODERN SENSORS (3rd ed.). New York: Springer. p. 55. ISBN 0-387-00750-4.</ref>
* [[Loudspeaker|Speakers]] and [[microphone]]s: Most speakers employ a permanent magnet and a current-carrying coil to convert electric energy (the signal) into mechanical energy (movement that creates the sound). The coil is wrapped around a [[bobbin]] attached to the speaker [[Diaphragm (acoustics)|cone]] and carries the signal as changing current that interacts with the field of the permanent magnet. The [[voice coil]] feels a magnetic force and in response, moves the cone and pressurizes the neighboring air, thus generating [[sound]]. Dynamic microphones employ the same concept, but in reverse. A microphone has a diaphragm or membrane attached to a coil of wire. The coil rests inside a specially shaped magnet. When sound vibrates the membrane, the coil is vibrated as well. As the coil moves through the magnetic field, a voltage is [[Faraday's law of induction|induced]] across the coil. This voltage drives a current in the wire that is characteristic of the original sound.
* [[Electric guitars]] use magnetic [[guitar pickup|pickups]] to transduce the vibration of guitar strings into electric current that can then be [[guitar amplifier|amplified]]. This is different from the principle behind the speaker and dynamic microphone because the vibrations are sensed directly by the magnet, and a diaphragm is not employed. The [[Hammond organ]] used a similar principle, with rotating [[tonewheel]]s instead of strings.
* [[Electric motor]]s and [[electrical generator|generators]]: Some electric motors rely upon a combination of an electromagnet and a permanent magnet, and, much like loudspeakers, they convert electric energy into mechanical energy. A generator is the reverse: it converts mechanical energy into electric energy by moving a conductor through a magnetic field.
* [[Medicine]]: Hospitals use [[magnetic resonance imaging]] to spot problems in a patient's organs without invasive surgery.
* Chemistry: Chemists use [[nuclear magnetic resonance]] to characterize synthesized compounds. 
* [[Chuck (engineering)|Chucks]] are used in the [[metalworking]] field to hold objects. Magnets are also used in other types of fastening devices, such as the [[magnetic base]], the [[magnetic clamp]] and the [[refrigerator magnet]].
* [[Compass]]es: A compass (or mariner's compass) is a magnetized pointer free to align itself with a magnetic field, most commonly [[Earth's magnetic field]].
* [[Art]]: Vinyl magnet sheets may be attached to paintings, photographs, and other ornamental articles, allowing them to be attached to refrigerators and other metal surfaces. Objects and paint can be applied directly to the magnet surface to create collage pieces of art. Metal magnetic boards, strips, doors, microwave ovens, dishwashers, cars, metal I beams, and any metal surface can be used magnetic vinyl art.
* [[Science project]]s: Many topic questions are based on magnets, including the repulsion of current-carrying wires, the effect of temperature, and motors involving magnets.<ref>{{cite web |title=Snacks about magnetism |url=http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/iconmagnetism.html |work=The Exploratorium Science Snacks |publisher=Exploratorium |access-date=17 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407142130/http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/iconmagnetism.html |archive-date=7 April 2013 }}</ref>
[[File:M tic.jpg|thumb|Magnets have many uses in [[toys]]. M-tic uses magnetic rods connected to metal spheres for [[construction]].]]
* [[Toy]]s: Given their ability to counteract the force of gravity at close range, magnets are often employed in children's toys, such as the [[Magnet Space Wheel]] and [[Levitron]], to amusing effect.
* [[Refrigerator magnet]]s are used to adorn kitchens, as a [[souvenir]], or simply to hold a note or photo to the refrigerator door.
* Magnets can be used to make jewelry. Necklaces and bracelets can have a magnetic clasp, or may be constructed entirely from a linked series of magnets and ferrous beads.
* Magnets can pick up magnetic items (iron nails, staples, tacks, paper clips) that are either too small, too hard to reach, or too thin for fingers to hold. Some screwdrivers are magnetized for this purpose.
* Magnets can be used in scrap and salvage operations to separate magnetic metals (iron, cobalt, and nickel) from non-magnetic metals (aluminum, non-ferrous alloys, etc.). The same idea can be used in the so-called "magnet test", in which a car chassis is inspected with a magnet to detect areas repaired using fiberglass or plastic putty.
* Magnets are found in process industries, food manufacturing especially, in order to remove metal foreign bodies from materials entering the process (raw materials) or to detect a possible contamination at the end of the process and prior to packaging. They constitute an important layer of protection for the process equipment and for the final consumer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.powderprocess.net/Checking_Powder_magnet.html |title=Neodymium Magnets : Strength, design for tramp metal removal |access-date=2016-12-05 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510100259/http://www.powderprocess.net/Checking_Powder_magnet.html |archive-date=2017-05-10 }} Source on magnets in process industries</ref>
* Magnetic levitation transport, or [[Maglev (transport)|maglev]], is a form of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles (especially trains) through electromagnetic force. Eliminating [[rolling resistance]] increases efficiency. The maximum recorded speed of a maglev train is {{convert|581|km/h|mph|sp=us}}.
* Magnets may be used to serve as a [[fail-safe]] device for some cable connections. For example, the power cords of some laptops are magnetic to prevent accidental damage to the port when tripped over. The [[MagSafe (Mac)|MagSafe]] power connection to the Apple MacBook is one such example.