Techniques Layperson's Explanation of Magnetic Resonance Techniques Magnetic Resonance splits up into a number of different areas for description. Here the topics are dealt with in a logical order with developments relying on some or all of the developments before them. Here 'nuclear' is not related to nuclear power stations or nuclear weapons, it is just saying it is the nucleus which is involved with the Magnetic Resonance. This allows us to differentiate between materials.
Resonance is the phenomenon that allows a guitar string to make a note when plucked.
The plucking effectively stimulates the string, which then finds a frequency called its resonant frequency. Different resonant frequencies lead to different notes. In NMR, a magnetic force is used to stimulate the vibration of nuclei. The signal is obtained from the fact that different nuclei respond to this in different ways. The specific details of the NMR measurement vary greatly depending upon what the experiment is designed to find out.