One point I don't think I've ever had clarification on - a magnet is effectively demagnetised above the Curie temperature. If two magnets are allowed to fall together they are converting their potential energy into kinetic energy, 'falling' down each other's magnetic gradient.
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If a pair of magnets is allowed to fall to their lowest energy state relative to each other and then heated to above their Curie temperature, it appears they are gaining potential energy, at least hypothetically if they are remagnetised at some point in the future.
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So the question is, how is energy conserved here? Is the heating process endothermic - i.e. does demagnetising a magnet whose field lines are partially blocked 'store' more energy than a magnet with no ferrous materials in its field?
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Replying to @metaauthor
Yes. It's a phase transition, nothing more. Those require energy of transition.
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Replying to @djinnius @metaauthor
The magnetic field of the magnets isn't conceptually different from the lattice energy of a solid, here.
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Replying to @djinnius
Thanks! I figured that might be the case; presumably where the magnetic field contains ferrous materials or another magnetic object, the domains are aligned more strongly and more energy is needed for the transition (similar to a denser solid?)
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Yep! Ferromagnetism is a bunch of atoms collaborating to have a common orientation, which the thermal energy overcomes as the temperature increases. Very much like a crystal.
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