what metals are magnetic?
Only materials containing iron, cobalt, nickel, or a few other rare elements are noticeably magnetic. Public Domain Image, source: NASA. Not all metals are magnetic. Actually, it depends on what you mean by the word magnetic. There are four basic types of magnetism that a material can have: superconducting, diamagnetic, paramagnetic, and lastly ferromagnetic. Superconducting materials are strongly repelled from permanent magnets.