Magnets on the Computer
So where is the crackling?
As you crumple a piece of paper, little areas bend and crackle. In the
same way, as you magnetize a magnet, little areas of the magnet
become magnetized.
This is our computer program. It shows what might happen in a piece of a
paper clip as it is magnetized. Push Go to see the
paper clip become magnetized again.
When you rub it with a magnet, the whole paper clip doesn't magnetize at once.
Magnetization happens in little jumps. We use color to show jumps. When an
area magnetizes, it changes to a new color and makes a jump in the
magnetization.
The big colored areas are big jumps. The little colored
areas are little jumps. Even though you don't hear it, the magnet is crackling!
We've turned the jumps in our program into sounds. Doesn't it sound like
crackling noise?
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