5 ms·

Iron is ferromagnetic.

• jonny_eh 13y ago
  I was thinking of the stainless steel version, but looking that up looks like the answer is "depends". Depends on the definition of "magnetic" (since all materials are to a degree) and the type of stainless steel. I just noticed that my own "iron" ring (which is stainless steel) doesn't seem to respond to typical magnets you'd find around the office. Clearly _iron_ is though, considering it's the element with the symbol "Fe" which is short for Ferrum.
  • ars 13y ago
    Usually (but not always) higher quality stainless steel is not magnetic, while the lower quality is slightly magnetic. However even slightly magnetic can be a problem in an MRI - and worse, there is no practical way for the MRI tech to tell how the stainless steel will act, so they will err on the side of caution.