Diamagnetics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The study of materials or substances that create a weak magnetic field in opposition to an externally applied magnetic field; properties causing a repulsive force to magnetic fields; the phenomena wherein certain materials are repelled by magnets
2. The branch of physics dealing with substances exhibiting induced magnetic fields that oppose external magnets; characteristics leading to negative magnetic susceptibility; the behavior of materials that generate magnetic fields countering applied ones
3. Investigation into matter showing temporary magnetism opposing magnetic forces; traits of materials that produce repellent magnetic effects; the scientific examination of weak diamagnetic responses in substances

Etymology: Michael Faraday coined the root of this word in the 1840s, when he was studying how different substances behave near a magnet. Some materials, such as bismuth, were pushed away from a magnet rather than pulled toward it, and Faraday needed a name for that behaviour. He built it from the Greek prefix "dia-", meaning "through" or "across", and the existing word "magnetic". The sense is that the material seems to lie across or against the magnetic field rather than align with it. "Diamagnetic" is the adjective for such materials, and "diamagnetics" is the plural form of that adjective used as a noun, here naming the field of study concerned with them. The study itself grew directly from Faraday's experiments, so the word names both a phenomenon and the branch of science that describes it.

Synonyms: diamagnetism, magnetic property, magnetic response, magnetic susceptibility, magnetic behavior

Antonyms: paramagnetics, ferromagnetics, magnetics, magnetism, magnetization