For less than ten dollars you can buy magnets that are strong enough to cause in personal injury, possibly even a few broken bones. Sounds like a pretty good deal, huh?

In the mid-1980�s neodymium (also called rare earth) magnets started to become available. Compared to other available magnets, neodymium magnets are the strongest permanent magnets available. Today they are used in computer hard drives, speakers, electric motors, wind turbines, etc.

As they get larger they can actually be rather dangerous. I'm actually a bit frightened by the larger neodymium magnets. If you get two of them close together with your hand in the way you'll likely break a few bones.

Other Ways to Make Strong Magnets
There are other ways to make magnetic fields without magnets. When electricity flows along a wire it actually creates a magnetic field. This can be shown by putting a compass near a coil of wire and turning the power off and on.

I'm not sure where you would buy one of these strong electromagnets but you can make your own with a nail, a battery, and some copper wire. It just won't be strong enough to pick up cars.