Question

It is advised to keep magnets away from television, mobiles, CD, and computers. Explain why?

Answer 1

Hint: Most electronic appliances contain other magnets inside them. Bringing external magnets closer can spoil the internal magnets. Additionally, strong magnets can generate electric currents in the circuit and damage the components.

Complete step by step answer:
Electrical appliances such as television, mobiles, CD, and computers have magnetic storage devices as well as other electrical circuits inside them. When we bring external magnets near these appliances, the external magnets will interfere with the components of the appliances and can damage them. Additionally strong magnets can mechanically displace the components inside the appliances, deleting connections and forever disabling the device. In older TVs that used Cathode ray tubes (CRTs), the CRT would project electrons on the screen to make it work. Bringing a magnet closer to the TV would deflect the electrons, thereby damaging the picture. Stronger magnets could displace the CRT entirely and the image wouldn’t even be formed on the screen anymore. Hence, we should keep magnets away from televisions, mobiles, CDs, and computers.

Note: Modern appliances do not use magnetic storage so we can keep weak magnets near these appliances without causing them damage. In fact, many appliances now come with magnets themselves that are sufficiently weak enough to avoid damage. However strong magnets should still not be brought closer as they can mechanically shift components inside the appliances causing them to be internally damaged. Televisions and mobiles now come with magnetic mounts that allow them to be mounted on any surface without any damage to the device. CDs store data optically and aren’t affected by static magnetic fields however dynamic magnetic fields can generate a current in the CD and damage it given that the magnet is strong enough.