Which actions most likely cause the domains in a ferromagnetic material to align? Check all that apply.

heating the material
rubbing the material against a magnet
passing electricity around the material
placing the material in a magnetic field of opposite polarity
placing the material near a strong magnet
hitting the material

1 answer

The actions that are most likely to cause the domains in a ferromagnetic material to align include:

  1. Rubbing the material against a magnet: This can help to align the magnetic domains due to the influence of the external magnetic field.

  2. Placing the material in a magnetic field of opposite polarity: While this action may not necessarily align the domains, it can influence alignment negatively. It can demagnetize the material or partially align the domains in the opposite direction.

  3. Placing the material near a strong magnet: A strong magnetic field can cause the domains in the ferromagnetic material to align in the direction of the field.

  4. Hitting the material: Physical impact can help to realign the domains; however, it may also disrupt existing alignment, so this is context-dependent.

The following actions are less likely to cause alignment:

  • Heating the material: Heating can actually disrupt the alignment of domains by giving them energy to move, thus it generally demagnetizes the material rather than aligning it.

  • Passing electricity around the material: While electrical currents can create magnetic fields, this is not a direct method to align the magnetic domains unless it generates a strong enough field or interacts in a specific way with the material.

So, the correct choices regarding alignment of domains are:

  • Rubbing the material against a magnet
  • Placing the material near a strong magnet
  • Hitting the material (context-dependent)