Why does a fridge magnet work without batteries?

A colorful fridge magnet holds your picture on the door, all through breakfast and all through bedtime. There is no cord and no battery to change. Why does a fridge magnet work without batteries?

A magnet is something that pulls on certain kinds of metal. The part behind a fridge magnet’s colorful decoration does that pulling. Its special material gives it a pull that stays.

Inside that material are tiny parts, much too small for your eyes to see. Each acts like a tiny magnet. When lots of these parts line up in the same direction, their little pulls work together.

The material in a fridge magnet keeps those tiny parts lined up. They do not need a battery to keep them that way. That is why this kind of magnet can keep its pull for years.

Around the magnet is a magnetic field, the invisible area where its push or pull can reach. You cannot see the magnetic field, but it reaches a little way beyond the magnet. It can pull on the right metal without touching it.

Many fridge doors contain iron, a metal that magnets pull on. The magnet's magnetic field reaches the iron. That pull holds the magnet against the door.

Here is a little guessing moment: would a fridge magnet stick to a wooden cupboard door, too? Wood does not contain the iron that helps a fridge door hold a magnet. The magnet still has its pull, but it cannot grip the wood that way.

On the fridge, the magnetic pull holds the magnet snug against the door. That snug contact helps stop it from sliding down. A thin picture can stay between them because the magnetic field reaches through the paper.

A battery can make a toy's lights shine. But a fridge magnet does not need a battery to keep its pull. Its tiny parts stay lined up, so its magnetic field stays, too.

Magnet, tiny parts lined up, magnetic field, iron in the door, picture held snug. A fridge magnet works without batteries because its material keeps a magnetic pull that holds it against the iron in the fridge door.

Tonight, your picture can rest snug on the fridge, with an invisible pull keeping it company.