LEE Safety Scale: Can someone verify material?

[Ritchie]

Concerning the "Magnetic Dampening" on these scales, how does it work exactly?

I've looked at my scale and the material that passes between the magnets appears to be made of aluminium. Last science class I went to, aluminium was a non ferrous metal. Has something changed?

 

[schick]

I wondered about that too. As far as I know, only three metals are affect by magnets: Iron, Nickel and Cobalt.

Maybe the part contains some degree of the 3 mentioned.

 

[acrashb]

As the Al passes through the magnetic field, a current is induced. The current creates a countering magnetic field, resisting further movement, roughly speaking - someone more 'current' with physics may offer detail corrections.

This effect works with any conductive material in a moving magnetic field - it's how generators work, moving copper (non-magnetic) wires through a magnetic field. You're right, in a stationary field, there is no attractive/repulsive effect.

 

[Andrewe]

On my scale the piece looks like a cheap, plated iron alloy. It is silver but definately is not aluminum. Besides that piece gets stuck on the magnet often enough that I know it contains iron.

 

[Ritchie]

I have lots of magnets around, but none of them have even the slightest pull on this stuff.