Question

What are two basis properties which indicates that this metal has magnetic properties. What is the role of paired and unpaired electronic spin in characterizing the properties of the metal/ material

Answer 1

Solution -  

let's start with the simple fact that the materials are made of atoms. Every atom has an electron(s). Most people know that the electrons have a charge. The electrons also have a property called spin. An electron may have an up spin or down spin. To make it less complicated, let me say that the electron is a tiny magnet. An electron with spin-up can be thought of as a magnet with its north pole up and the spin-down electron has its south pole up. Besides spin, the orbital motion of the electron around the nucleus (sort of like the earth going around the sun) produces a magnetic field too but it's not significant in most materials and we will ignore it.

Now we know roughly that each electron is a tiny magnet. When an atom has an equal number of up and down spin electrons, the atoms will not behave like a magnet. On the other hand, in certain materials such as iron, nickel, cobalt, manganese etc., there is an unequal number of spin up and spin down electrons. These atoms can be thought of as magnets. Please note that, out of several elements, only a few of the elements have atoms that can be thought of as magnets

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