Lodestone is magnetic. How might you identify whether a mineral sample might be lodestone?
1 Answer
Nov 1, 2016
Take a magnet and see if the mineral is attracted to and repelled by the magnet.
Explanation:
All magnetic materials have a north and a south pole. Non magnetic iron ores will be attracted to the magnetic field in a magnet. However only another magnetic substance will be repelled in the two poles are the same{ ( north, north) or ( south, south)
A mineral sample that shows both attraction and repulsion to a magnetic is magnetic.
If the sample passes both of these tests it might be lodestone. It is not necessarily lodestone however. Some forms of Cobalt and Nickel are also natural magnets.
Further test such as the streak test and density would be required to be sure the sample is lodestone.
