Question

Does iron rust get attracted towards magnet and why?

Answer 1

Rusting and corrosion introduce atoms of other elements (typically oxygen), making new chemical forms with different interactions between neighboring atoms’ electrons. Usually these end up either non-ferromagnetic or less ferromagnetic than the pure magnetic metal.

There are several different oxides of iron, with different fractions of oxygen. They are Fe0, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4. Rust consists mostly of Fe2O3, with additional water molecules attached. There are several forms of Fe2O3, and a common mineral composed of Fe2O3 is called hematite, which is a shiny-blackish mineral. Hematite is not ferromagnetic, but it does still respond to a magnetic field and will be attracted to the poles of a permanent magnet. Hematite itself has the interesting property of being nearly antiferromagnetic, in which the spinning electrons producing magnetic fields in neighboring atom groups like to align opposite to one another, canceling their fields out.

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