Energy From Magnets?

Most recent answer: 08/06/2016

Q:
I find that permanent magnet fascinating and why cant they be used to produce free energy. But I am wrong, its not about how to get free energy but how do you release the energy from a permanent magnet. How does that magnet regains its energy which might not be the conventional method we know about. So we might need a small amount of energy to commence the process of releasing the energy from the magnet (like kindling), and the permanent magnet releases its own energy in a great proportion(like coal), however the permanent magnet is able to replace its magnet power by a method that we don't understand yet. Its not free energy but a way to release preserved energy)
- Roy Taylor (age 50)
New Zealand
A:

You can check our old answer on this and get back to us if you still have questions:  https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=2845.

The basic answer is that a very small amount of energy is stored in the alignment of the field of a permanent magnet.  In principle you could recover that energy as it demagnetizes, but people who think of magnets as energy sources usually have some other, non-existent, process in mind.

Mike W.


(published on 08/06/2016)