Question

Which of the following is a magnetic material?
A. Wood.
B. Plastic.
C. Ceramic
D. Iron.

Answer 1

Hint: We know that magnetic materials are those materials which are attracted or repelled by a magnet. That means these materials produce a magnetic field in response to an applied field. This magnetic response is mainly determined by the magnetic dipole moment with the intrinsic angular momentum or the spin of its electrons. So we will compare each.

Complete step by step answer:
Now, let us take every given option and check if it shows magnetic properties or not.
The first one given is wood. We know wood is not attracted or repelled by a magnet or application of a magnetic field. That means it is not a magnetic material. The next option given is plastic. Plastic materials also don't show any type of reaction towards a magnetic field or magnet. Plastic is an organic compound and doesn’t respond to magnetic fields. So, plastic is not a magnetic material. Now, if we take the case of ceramic materials, normal ceramic materials that we see in our household are not magnetic. Because they are not attracted or repelled by a magnetic field. But there are certain rare ceramic materials like ferrite which show magnetic properties. But normally we include ceramic materials as non-magnetic.
But, if we take the case of iron, iron gets attracted by a magnet or by application of a magnetic field. This is due to the influence of the magnetic field, the atoms begin to align their electrons with the flow of the magnetic field, which makes the iron magnetized as well. So, we can conclude that iron is a magnetic material. Hence, the correct answer is option D.

Note:
We have discussed that certain ceramic materials show magnetic properties. Ferrite ceramics are one of them. They are usually ferromagnetic compounds derived from iron oxides. Magnetite is a good example. As other ceramics, they are hard, brittle and poor conductors of electricity. So keep in mind that there are certain ceramic materials which show magnetic properties too.