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Ch.23 - Transition Metals and Coordination Chemistry
Chapter 23, Problem 18

Which type of magnetic material cannot be used to make permanent magnets: a ferromagnetic substance, an antiferromagnetic substance, or a ferrimagnetic substance?

Verified step by step guidance
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Step 1: Understand the types of magnetic materials. Ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and ferrimagnetic materials have different magnetic properties due to their atomic structures and electron alignments.
Step 2: Define ferromagnetic materials. These materials have unpaired electrons with parallel spins, resulting in a strong net magnetic moment. They can be magnetized to become permanent magnets.
Step 3: Define antiferromagnetic materials. In these materials, adjacent ions have opposite spins, canceling each other out, resulting in no net magnetic moment. This makes them unsuitable for permanent magnets.
Step 4: Define ferrimagnetic materials. These materials have a net magnetic moment due to unequal opposing magnetic moments, allowing them to be used as permanent magnets, though typically weaker than ferromagnetic materials.
Step 5: Conclude that antiferromagnetic substances cannot be used to make permanent magnets due to their lack of a net magnetic moment.