Samarium - magnets for making & listening to music

Samarium magnets are used in headphones & guitar pickups, and samarium was the first element named after a real person, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 74 of Elemental.

Samarium was the first element on the periodic table to be named after a real, as opposed to a mythical, person.

It is a lanthanoid and alloys of it are useful in magnets, which can be thousands of times stronger than iron magnets.

These magnets are found in headphones and high-end magnetic pickups for electric guitars and basses.

Samarium magnets were also used in the motors of one of the earliest solar-powered electric aircraft, the Solar Challenger, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 74 of Elemental.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details