You must have seen a variety of magnets around you. A Bar magnet and a horseshoe magnet are something that most of us know about. Apart from these two, a cylindrical shaped magnet, a ring-shaped magnet, and a spherical magnet are a few more types! But these are not the different TYPES OF MAGNETS. These are actually different SHAPES of magnets. So how do we classify magnets into different types? One of the ways in which we can classify them is based on their occurrence. That is whether they are naturally occurring magnets… or maybe artificial or manmade magnets. Almost all the magnets that you will ever come across including the ones we saw are artificial. So what are natural magnets then? Lodestone is the strongest naturally occurring magnet. It is black in color and was the first magnet ever discovered! Some other naturally occurring magnetic materials are pyrrhotite, columbite and even basalt has some magnetic properties! But these magnets are much weaker than lodestone. There is one more way in which magnets are classified. This one simply depends on how long they remain as magnets! Yes, the magnets are also classified into two main categories: permanent and temporary. From their names, you should be able to tell me their logical definitions! You would probably say that permanent magnets remain as magnets forever or for a very long time! And temporary magnets remain as magnets for a very short period of time! These are okayish definitions but not proper. So what are the proper ones then? Okay, here we go! The magnets that retain their magnetism in the absence of an external magnetic field are called permanent magnets. Their magnetic strength never really fades on its own! And the magnets that cannot retain their magnetism or retain it for a very short time are called temporary magnets. Temporary magnets act as magnets only while they’re within a strong magnetic field! Don’t worry we will understand these definitions in detail in the next video! But before that, let’s quickly review what we learned! Based on their occurrence, magnets are classified into naturally occurring and artificial magnets! And based on how long they retain their magnetism, they are classified into permanent and temporary magnets! And there’s one important relation here that we should know about! All the naturally occurring magnets are permanent! Yes! We will continue understanding more concepts in the coming videos!