found to be 780°, 360° and 1090° respectively, but these values are
not quite independent of the magnetizing force.
Experiments on the effect of high temperatures have also been made by M. P. Ledeboer,[1] H. Tomlinson,[2] P. Curie,[3] and W. Kunz,[4] R. L. Wills,[5] J. R. Ashworth[6] and E. P. Harrison.[7]
Low Temperature.—J. A. Fleming and J. Dewar (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1896, 60, 81) were the first to experiment on the permeability and hysteresis of iron at low temperatures down to that of liquid air (−186° C.). Induction curves of an annealed soft-iron ring were taken first at a temperature of 15° C., and afterwards when the ring was immersed in liquid air, the magnetizing force ranging from about 0.8 to 22. After this operation had been repeated a few times the iron was found to have acquired a stable condition, and the curves corresponding to the two temperatures became perfectly definite. They showed that the permeability of this sample of iron was considerably diminished at the lower temperature. The maximum permeability (for H = 2) was 3400 at 15° and only 2700 at −186°, a reduction of more than 20%; but the percentage reduction became less as the magnetizing force departed from the value corresponding to maximum permeability. Observations were also made of the changes of permeability which took place as the temperature of the sample slowly rose from −186° to 15°, the magnetizing force being kept constant throughout an experiment. The values of the permeability corresponding to the highest and lowest temperatures are given in the following table. Most of the permeability-temperature curves were more or less convex towards the axis of temperature, and in all the experiments, except those with annealed iron and steel wire, the permeability was greatest at the lowest temperature.[8] The hysteresis of the soft annealed iron turned out to be sensibly the same for equal values of the induction at −186° as at 15°, the loss in ergs per c.cm. per cycle being approximately represented by 0.002 B1.56 when the maximum limits of B were ±9000. Experiments with the sample of unannealed iron failed to give satisfactory results, owing to the fact that no constant magnetic condition could be obtained.
| Sample of Iron. | H. | μ at 15°. | μ at −186°. |
| Annealed Swedish | 1.77 | 2835 | 2332 |
| Unannealed ” | 1.78 | 917 | 1272 |
| ” ” | 9.79 | 1210 | 1293 |
| Hardened ” | 2.66 | 56 | 132 |
| ” ” | 4.92 | 106.5 | 502 |
| ” ” | 11.16 | 447.5 | 823 |
| ” ” | 127.7 | 109 | 124 |
| Steel wire | 7.50 | 86 | 64.5 |
| ” | 20.39 | 361 | 144 |
Honda and Shimizu have made similar experiments at the temperature of liquid air, employing a much wider range of magnetizing forces (up to about 700 C.G.S.) and testing a greater variety of metals. They found that the permeability of Swedish iron, tungsten-steel and nickel, when the metals were cooled to −186°, was diminished in weak fields but increased in strong ones, the field in which the effect of cooling changed its sign being 115 for iron and steel and 580 for nickel. The permeability of cobalt, both annealed and unannealed, was always diminished at the low temperature. The hysteresis-loss in Swedish iron was decreased for inductions below about 9000 and increased for higher inductions; in tungsten-steel, nickel and cobalt the hysteresis-loss was always increased by cooling. The range of ±B within which Steinmetz’s formula is applicable becomes notably increased at low temperature. It may be remarked that, whereas Fleming and Dewar employed the ballistic method, their specimens having the form of rings, Honda and Shimizu worked magnetometrically with metals shaped as ovoids.
Permanent Magnets.—Fleming and Dewar (loc. cit. p. 57) also investigated the changes which occurred in permanently magnetized metals when cooled to the temperature of liquid air. The metals, which were prepared in the form of small rods, were magnetized between the poles of an electromagnet and tested with a magnetometer at temperatures of −186° and 15°. The first immersion into liquid air generally produced a permanent decrease of magnetic moment, and there was sometimes a further decrease when the metal was warmed up again; but after a few alternations of temperature the changes of moment became definite and cyclic. When the permanent magnetic condition had been thus established, it was found that in the case of all the metals, except the two alloys containing large percentages of nickel, the magnetic moment was temporarily increased by cooling to −186°. The following table shows the principal results. It is suggested that a permanent magnet might conveniently be “aged” (or brought into a constant condition) by dipping it several times into liquid air.
| Metal. | Percentage Gain or Loss of Moment at −186° C. | |
| First Effect. | Cyclic Effect. | |
| Carbon steel, hard | −6 | +12 |
| Carbon steel, medium | Decrease | +22 |
| Carbon steel, annealed | −33 | +33 |
| Chromium steels (four samples) | Increase | +12 |
| Aluminium steels (three samples) | −2 | +10 |
| Nickel steels, up to 7.65% | Small | +10 |
| Nickel steels, up to 9.64% | −50 | −25 |
| Nickel steels, up to 29% | −20 | −10 |
| Pure nickel | Decrease | +3 |
| Silicon steel, 2.67% | ” | +4 |
| Iron, soft | None | +2.5 |
| Iron, hard | Decrease | +10 |
| Tungsten steel, 15% | ” | +6 |
| Tungsten steel, 7.5% | ” | +10 |
| Tungsten steel, 1% | ” | +12 |
Other experiments relating to the effect of temperature upon permanent magnets have been carried out by J. R. Ashworth,[9] who showed that the temperature coefficient of permanent magnets might be reduced to zero (for moderate ranges of temperature) by suitable adjustment of temper and dimension ratio; also by R. Pictet,[10] A. Durward[11] and J. Trowbridge.[12]
Alloys of Nickel and Iron.—A most remarkable effect of temperature was discovered by Hopkinson (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1890, 47, 23; 1891, 48, 1) in 1889. An alloy containing about 3 parts of iron and 1 of nickel—both strongly magnetic metals—is under ordinary conditions practically non-magnetizable (μ = 1.4 for any value of H). If, however, this non-magnetic substance is cooled to a temperature a few degrees below freezing-point, it becomes as strongly magnetic as average cast-iron (μ = 62 for H = 40), and retains its magnetic properties indefinitely at ordinary temperatures. But if the alloy is heated up to 580° C. it loses its susceptibility—rather suddenly when H is weak, more gradually when H is strong—and remains non-magnetizable till it is once more cooled down below the freezing-point. This material can therefore exist in either of two perfectly stable conditions, in one of which it is magnetizable, while in the other it is not. When magnetizable it is a hard steel, having a specific electrical resistance of 0.000052; when non-magnetizable it is an extremely soft, mild steel, and its specific resistance is 0.000072. Alloys containing different proportions of nickel were found to exhibit the phenomenon, but the two critical temperatures were less widely separated. The following approximate figures for small magnetizing forces are deduced from Hopkinson’s curves:—
| Percentage of Nickel. | Susceptibility lost at temp. C. | Susceptibility gained at temp. C. |
| 0.97 | 890 | — |
| 4.7 | 820 | 660 |
| 4.7 | 780 | 600 |
| 24.5 | 680 | −10 |
| 30.0 | 140 | 125 |
| 33.0 | 207 | 193 |
| 73.0 | 202 | 202 |
- ↑ C.R., 1888, 106, 129.
- ↑ Proc. Phys. Soc., 1888, 9, 181.
- ↑ C.R., 1892, 115, 805; 1894, 118, 796 and 859.
- ↑ Elekt. Zeits., 1894, 15, 194.
- ↑ Phil. Mag., 1900, 50, 1.
- ↑ Phil. Trans., 1903, 201, 1.
- ↑ Phil. Mag., 1904, 8, 179.
- ↑ A. M. Thiessen (Phys., 1899, 8, 65) and G. Claude (C. R., 1899, 129, 409) found that for considerable inductions (B = 15,000) the permeability and hysteresis-loss remained nearly constant down to −186°; for weak inductions both notably diminished with temperature.
- ↑ Proc. Roy. Soc., 1898, 62, 210.
- ↑ C.R., 1895, 120, 263.
- ↑ Amer. Journ. Sci., 1898, 5, 245.
- ↑ Phys. Rev., 1901, 14, 181.
