How Does a Magnet Stay Attached to a Refrigerator?

Imagine your magnet is like a sticky hand, and the fridge has tiny magnetic hands that grab onto it. But the wall doesn’t have any magnetic hands, so the magnet just slips away.

Why does this happen?

Most fridges are made of steel, which is a type of iron. Iron has special atoms inside it called magnetic domains that can be influenced by magnets. When you put your magnet near the fridge, these tiny magnetic hands in the steel line up with the magnet and grab onto it.

But walls are usually made of materials like brick, concrete, or plaster, which don’t have these special magnetic hands, so your magnet just falls off!