Which of the following material can be used as a core for making an electromagnet?
Soft iron
For a material to be used as a core, it should be a magnetic substance with high susceptibility and low retentivity. The ability of a magnetic substance to get magnetized under the influence of a magnetic field is Susceptibility and the ability to retain magnetism is called retentivity. From the below options Rubber and Silver are non-magnetic substances which cannot be used as the core. Steel has very low susceptibility and very high retentivity. In this case, the steel retains its magnetism even when current is not flowing. So it cannot be used as the core. Soft iron has very high susceptibility and very low retentivity. So it is an ideal material for the core.