Magnets are very “attractive” and interesting elements. One of the earliest natural forces that humans stumbled upon was most probably magnetism, although it has been relatively recent that the dormant potential of the properties of magnetic substances have been realized.

Many electronic devices and gadgets which have become so conventional today employ the marvel of semiconductors which cannot function without their magnetic counterparts. Rumor is that a goatherd from Crete called Magnes was the first to stumble upon lodestone (magnetite) when his iron hook was attracted a stone when he passed by it.

Ferrite Magnets or Ferrites are ceramic materials, compounds of iron, boron and barium or strontium or molybdenum, primarily obtained from iron-oxides such as Hematite (Fe2O3) or Magnetite (Fe3O4) apart from oxides of above metals. They are used to make permanent magnets, ferrite cores (the winding structures in transformers), and for several other applications.

Ferrites similar to most other ceramics are stiff and fragile. A ferrite magnet is the most rudimentary type of magnet, in contrast to more complicated magnets like Alnico magnets or Neodymium magnets (rare-earth magnets, the most powerful permanent magnetic material of which we are currently aware).Ferrite magnets are permanent magnets and also the most common magnets known to us since our childhood days, because they are easily affordable and immensely popular.

Ferrite magnets, or ferromagnetic materials, are classified broadly into two categories on basis of a property called magnetic coercivity, or perseverance of internal magnetism: The two are Hard ferrites and soft ferrites.

The hard/soft reference is not regarding the actual hardness of the materials as they both are brittle in nature but rather their magnetic coercivity. Based on these properties, they can be employed in different applications. For instance, a hard ferrite magnet might be used in a radio or data storage devices.

A soft ferrite magnetic would be used as a transformer core or an electromagnet core. These magnetic variants come in several designs and shapes such as like disc, arc, cylinder, sleeve etc.

They are also fitted in audio speakers, rotary electric motors, hand-cranked  magneto generators, wiper motor, dc motor, automobile fans, locomotive fans, and several other  electronics components along with industrial assembly lines and load lifting/separating machinery.