Question #e2154
1 Answer
A change in the state of magnetization is a physical change.
Explanation:
The difference between physical change and chemical change is a bit arbitrary. As a rule of the thumb, chemical changes are those in which there is a chemical reaction, or, even without a chemical reaction, there's a change in the structure of the electronic orbitals (this means, a change in the number or the way the electrons are arranged around the atom).
A change in the magnetism of a body, like an iron nail becoming magnetized, only changes the "plane of the orbit"* of the electrons around the atoms. When an electric current travels in a circle, it creates a magnetic field perpendicular to that circle. When iron becomes magetized, all the small magnetic fields become alligned. This doesn't change how electrons are distrubuted within the atom, so it's a physical change.
- electrons do not really move in circular orbits around the atoms. This is just a useful image to understand simplistically what happens.
