Humans have been studying rocks for a long time. Each kind of rock is valued for different reasons including hardness, strength, color, scarcity, and more.
Figure 1: All photos courtesy of pixabay. Upper Left- Quartz, by Cocoparisienne | Upper Center- Diamond, by GrownDiamond | Upper Right- Rock Candy, by WikimediaImages | Lower Left- Pyrite, by Stux | Lower Center- Smooth River Rocks, by Camera-man | Lower Left- Amethyst, by Dieter444
This article is about a very special kind of rock called lodestone.
Figure 2: A chunk of lodestone.
Clearly lodestone isn't valued for its looks. What makes lodestone special is that it attracts iron shavings and steel! We call this property magnetism.
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Figure 3: Steel objects and iron shavings are attracted to lodestone. When rotated upside down, many steel objects will defy gravity and remain attached to the lodestone.
