what are iron filings? what characteristics does iron filings have? is it a metal because it is attracted to magnets?
they are what they say they are. They are the small bits of iron that are 'filed' off a piece of iron using a file. They are very good for showing the magnetic field of a magnet through a piece of paper. Just small bits of iron.
Iron fillings are very cute bits of metal. They are easily attracted to magnet because it is a metal.
Iron filings are very small pieces of iron that look like a dark powder. They are very often used in science demonstrations to show the direction of a magnetic field. Since iron is a ferromagnetic material, a magnetic field induces each particle to become a tiny bar magnet. The south pole of each particle then attracts the north poles of its neighbours, and this process repeated over a wide area creates chains of filings parallel to the direction of the magnetic field.
