One of life’s little questions that people wonder about is this: can magnets work underwater?
Water is almost completely non-magnetic, so magnets work underwater the same as they do in air or in a vacuum.
Magnets involve force. Now you’re probably thinking of Star Wars’ “May the force be with you.” Well, in that movie, characters would use “the force” (in their minds, assumedly) to retrieve light sabers during fight scenes, much like a magnet uses force to attract things to it!
Magnets underwater work like they do above ground—if they find something they’re attracted to, the force between them pulls them together. Variables involved in this process include the distance between objects as well as angles—and, of course, whether or not big fish are in the way.
Some may ask the question, “Does it matter if the water’s really cold or really hot?” The simple answer is no. In some cases, extremely hot water may weaken magnets, but for the purposes of everyday life, it’s really a non-issue.
IPES International, a company based in Pittsburgh, PA, makes retrieving magnets that work well under water. Indeed, boaters and fishermen love these retrieving magnets when they want to recover lost equipment, keys, tools, fishing tackle or any other metal object that has fallen into the water. Obviously, diving in to the water and looking for stuff yourself is not as easy as lowering a retrieving magnet to do the job for you, you know?
IPES’ retrieving magnets are powerful—some are able to hold up to 500 pounds of stuff! Call IPES International at 412-781-4660 and ask about their retrieving magnets today.