How do refrigerator magnets work

A. Hi Leah. You have asked one of the questions that most scientists cannot, effectively, answer. It is difficult to work out how something like a fridge magnet can defy the force of gravity (whatever that is!) without expending energy somehow. If energy is being expended then where is that energy finding it's source from? Good luck with any answers :-)

A. Hi, Stuart.

Thanks, but I don't really agree. Would you feel the same, that energy is being expended, if the magnet were bolted or welded to the fridge?

Regards,

A. Hiya Ted. If the magnet was bolted or welded to the fridge then the question wouldn't arise, unless you see the magnetic force in the same way as a bolt or a weld. The physics behind the bolting or welding of something does not correlate to the apparent 'force' that holds a magnet to anything metal. There would be a transfer of work energy involved in the bolting and welding that isn't involved in a magnet.

Stu

A. Thanks again, Stuart, but once again I must disagree. A tightened bolt will both pull the item towards the fridge and keep it from falling :-)

Regards,

A. Hi Jessica. Invisible "bolts" fasten the magnet to the fridge.

Regards,