Description
This AlNiCo horseshoe magnet measures 100 mm x 63 mm and is painted red-green. The north pole is located on the red end. The horseshoe magnet is well packaged for shipping, the poles are short-circuited with a magnet keeper. These classic U-shaped magnets are popular for school experiments as the magnetic field becomes visible with iron filings.
Almost all magnets on our website are made of NdFeB (neodymium-iron-boron). However, this horseshoe magnet is of a different material, namely AlNiCo (aluminium-nickel-cobalt and iron). AlNiCo is better suited for U-shaped magnets because it is less brittle and much more heat-resistant (up to approx. 450 degrees Celsius). Though AlNiCo is approx. eight times weaker than NdFeB, it is still much stronger than a ferrite magnet (=refrigerator magnet). A horseshoe-shaped NdFeB magnet would break too easily and is therefore not manufactured in this shape.
Please note
The horseshoe magnets are not evenly magnetised over the full length. Only the tip of the magnet has a clear north or south pole. Therefore, if you need a rather big and homogeneous field for your experiments in class, you are better off with two normal neodymium block magnets placed opposite from each other.