Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

Natural magnets were discovered in Greece
A. True
B. False

seo-qna
SearchIcon
Answer
VerifiedVerified
453.9k+ views
Hint: To answer this type of question we will go through the history of magnets and magnetic elements in a past age how it is found accidentally by different persons in different places like Greece and China.

Complete step by step solution :
We traced the origin of the science of magnetism and its substituent growth. A Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus had discovered a naturally occurring ore of iron attracted small pieces of iron towards it. The ore was found in the district of magnesia in Asia Minor in Greece.
That is why the ore was named magnetite. The phenomena of attraction of small pieces of iron, steel, cobalt and nickel towards the ore was called magnetism. The ore of iron showing this type of effect was called a natural magnet. Its structure formula was \[F{e_3}{O_4}\].
The Chinese discovered magnetite when suspended freely always points out roughly in the North-South direction thus we know that a natural magnet has attractive and directive properties. This property made us able to make a magnetic compass which was used by navigators to find their way in steering the ships.
The Greek discovered the attractive property of natural magnet and the Chinese discovered the directive property of these magnets because of attractive property the lodestone was also called the kissing stone.
The natural magnets often have irregular shapes and they are weak in nature. It is observed that a piece of iron or steel can occur magnetic properties on rubbing with magnets. These types of magnets made out of iron and steel are called artificial magnets. Artificial magnets can be of different shapes and strength desired by one.
It is true that natural magnets were discovered in Greece.
Hence, the option (A) is correct.

Note: In this question we will not miss to describe how the natural magnets come into existence and observed by the man and how it acts in response with other magnetic elements. We will also describe the properties of natural magnets and its uses for the progress of mankind.