Rare earth magnets are one of the many types of magnets that are in existence today. They are usually made some of the most common metal elements that include iron, cobalt and iron. They are considered to be stronger than other existing magnets and have stronger magnetic field then ordinary magnets. Despite their magnetic strength, they are very fragile and undergo oxidation very easily. To prevent this, they are coated with gold or nickel to protect them.
Electrons in any kind of magnet are usually lined up in the same direction to create one magnetic field that then surrounds any object they come across. Permanent magnets such as those found in horseshoes and bar magnets are used on a daily basis since they are able to keep their magnetism for a longer period of time. Other types of magnets are the natural ones such as lodestone, a type of rock magnet which tends to be very brittle and hence breaks very easily. Once such natural magnets are left unprotected, they break and this disrupts the electron alignment hence they end up losing their magnetic fields.
At first, rare magnets were expensive and generally rare however thanks to mass production they are now affordable and can be easily identified. The samarium-cobalt and the neodymium are the two most common commercial rare magnets. Samarium cobalt is affordable and can resist oxidation while neodymium is much stronger magnetically but oxidizes easily.
These magnets are used in hard drives, speakers and other cordless tools. Claims have been made of the ability of these magnets to help in the generation of power through a special kind of generator. They continue being used in the technology world to run computers and electronic fields.