Question

What is a Lodestone?

Answer 1

Hint: Let us first get some idea about Lodestone. A lodestone is a chunk of magnetite that has been spontaneously magnetised. They are magnets that are found in nature and can attract iron. Lodestones were used to investigate the virtue of magnetism in antiquity. The first magnetic compasses were pieces of lodestone hanging so that they could revolve, and the name lodestone, which in Middle English means "course stone" or "leading stone," comes from the now obsolete meaning of lode as "journey, path."

Complete answer:
In geology, the process by which lodestone is formed has long been a mystery. Only a small percentage of the Earth's magnetite is magnetised as lodestone. Ordinary magnetite, like iron and steel, is attracted to a magnetic field, but it does not tend to get magnetised because its magnetic coercivity is too low to stay magnetised for long.

Lodestones have been discovered to be composed of magnetite with maghemite inclusions, as well as impure metal ions of titanium, aluminium, and manganese. This form of magnetite has enough coercivity due to its inhomogeneous crystalline structure to remain magnetised and so be a permanent magnet.

Note: Let us know some points about it. Only a few minerals are naturally magnetised, and lodestone is one of them. Magnetite is a black or brownish-black mineral with a metallic lustre and a black stripe. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5-6.5