A magnetic name badge is an extremely useful invention, and is used by nearly every company across America to identify the staff and often their positions within the company itself. Basically a magnet works by applying a great deal of force on objects of metal materials, even though the magnet may not even be physically touching the object in question. The force that magnets actually exert is called a magnetic force, and many magnets don’t need any other material to exert their force, as they just do it naturally, these types of magnets are called permanent magnets and can be created by placing a certain object within the field of a strong magnetic force for quite some time.

 A magnetic name badge is a permanent magnet, as it has previously been permanently magnetized and does not lose its’ magnetic force over time. There is another type of magnet that exists, called an electromagnet. Placing wire coils around the object you are hoping to magnetize, and then passing an electric current through the coils can create this type of magnet, thus allowing the object in question to exert a magnetic force and attract other metal materials. The only problem with this type of magnet is that once you have turned the electric current off, the object will no longer be magnetized. An interesting fact of all magnets is that they have two poles to them that attract each other, for example the south pole will attract the north pole and vice versa, but they will repel each other.

 In a magnetic name badge, you will notice that if you clip the two magnets the wrong way, it will not stick to your shirt, as you are trying to connect the north pole with the north pole or the south pole with the south pole, and so they are repelling each other. But if you clip the two opposite pole together, your name badge will quickly attach itself to your shirt without any pressure needing to be applied on your part! Some of the everyday appliances that we use which contain magnets are compasses, microwave ovens, vending machines that use coins, televisions, tape recorders, loud speakers, all electric motors, and even the horn in your car! In fact the Earth itself is a giant magnet! It’s amazing if you start thinking about how many things we need magnets for – even the note holder on your refrigerator is a magnet!

 The history of the magnet holding your magnetic name badge in place is an interesting one that can be traced back to 500 BCE, when the Greeks used lodestone for a variety of reasons and experimented with it quite extensively (lodestone is a naturally occurring magnet). The actual name of “magnet” thus comes from the Greek word “magnetis lithos”, which can be translated to mean “the stone of Magnesia”. Magnesia was an area in Turkey where these lodestones were initially found. From here, lodestone was studied exhaustively and compasses were eventually made in Europe in the time if 1200 CE.