Talk:Iron filings

Introduction makes little sense

A prominent sentence in the Introduction reads as follows:

"Since iron is a magnetic material, it will align itself with the magnetic lines of a magnet in the same way a compass will align itself with a magnetic field."

(Here "it" refers to iron filings placed near to the magnet.)

But a compass needle is already a magnet, and it is interacting with the magnetism of the Earth as a whole. This is the interaction of two magnets.

Whereas in the case of an ordinary magnet and iron filings, we are presumably not discussing iron filings that have already been magnetized. (Or if we are, this should certainly be stated!) This means we are talking about one magnet (not two), plus unmagnetized iron. Which makes the analogy to a compass fail miserably, as far as I can tell.

My conclusion: This part of the Introduction should either be deleted, rewritten entirely, or else clarified so the analogy is much clearer.Daqu (talk) 13:51, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Hi all, I have tried to improve the introduction a little with an interesting fact. Collaboration welcome. (Media Studies lecturer (talk) 18:11, 8 April 2019 (UTC))

I've always wondered

why do iron filings occur, in rather large quantities, in sand? Also, they often appear not to be oxidized. That seems odd. I suppose it might be iron pyrite... 69.226.102.130 (talk) 21:09, 16 December 2009 (UTC)