what makes a magnet on the atomic level?
Magnetic materials have electrons which can be influenced to all travel clockwise or counterclockwise around their atoms. Electrons are electrically charged particles, and they generate magnetic fields as they move. If they all move in the same direction, the individual magnetic fields combine and the overall field increases in strength. Non-magnetic materials have as many electrons in clockwise as counterclockwise orbits, and this cancels any overall magnetic field. Magnetic materials are magnetized by exposing them to an external magnetic field. This aligns all the electron orbits, sort of like a comb moving through hair. Heating a magnet decreases its magnetic strength. Atomic vibrations increase and these disrupt the symmetry of the electron's orbits. It is sort of like the wind blowing hair around after it's been combed.
