The Chinese used magnets to create the floating compass about 2,000 years ago, an invention that ultimately allowed Columbus to discover the New World. Magnets were used to build the first alternating-current generating station in upstate New York in the 1880s, ushering in the era of cheap electricity. Today, magnets are inside computers, loudspeakers, motors, televisions, wrist watches, compasses, telephones, switches, radios and microphones. Joel Miller, U of U. chemist, is an expert on a new class of magnets made of organic materials instead of metal. A single automobile may contain more than 20 magnets, many in motors that run everything from windows and door locks to the starter, windshield wipers, air conditioner, antenna lift, fuel pump and sunroof.
Magnets are everywhere.
Now, Miller and chemists elsewhere are designing entirely new kinds of magnetic materials made with organic chemicals called polymers. The new magnets may help scientists better understand the long-running mystery of magnetism. They could be molded into any shape and tailored to have the amount of magnetism needed for a product. But so far, they exist only in powdered form and haven't yet been molded or otherwise shaped into what technically are considered plastics, Miller said. But the substance wasn't good for practical use because it was magnetic only if chilled to 451 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.