Heating a Magnet

I've seen some of your answers on the effects of heat on a magnet, and I was wondering if you would know HOW to melt a soft magnet, if at all? Would a small stove work, or would I need more heat from something like a stove? Please reply as soon as possible. Thanks!
- George (age 13)
Virginia

How hot you have to get a magnet before it demagnetizes depends on the magnet. Your stove probably won't get hot enough to "melt" the magnetic domains (at their Curie temperature), but it might get hot enough to let them reorient and reduce the net magnetism. You could try your magnets in your stove to see what happens. One way to see how strong the magnet is is to see how long a chain of paper-clips it can hold up. Just be sure to give the magnets plenty of time to cool down before you handle them. We'd love to hear the results.

Mike W.

(published on 03/25/2015)