# Two Mythbuster questions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-mythbuster-questions/528181>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 8, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-mythbuster-questions/528181 "2010-02-08T19:20:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-mythbuster-questions/528181/21 "2010-02-09T12:23:52Z")

</div>

I think I see what I did wrong here, but it’s early.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-mythbuster-questions/528181/22 "2010-02-09T15:50:26Z")

</div>

> [@Chronos](#):
>
> No, most of it is not only not magnetized, but cannot be magnetized. Ferromagnetism is a pretty rare property. All materials are either paramagnetic or diamagnetic, but those won’t leave an impression of any sort on the material.
> 
> And even if the weighed object does stick to the scale, what difference would that make? You could superglue something onto a scale, and it’d still weigh the same (aside from the weight of the glue itself, of course).

Because the metal and magnetized parts beyond the “pressure pad” could be attracting or repelling the object, acting as a “sandwich” with the magnetic forces pulling down or pushing up the object on the pressure pad, giving false readings. Even weak magnetic forces could make a difference on weight when you get down to the nitty gritty at a highly accurate level.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-mythbuster-questions/528181.md?page=1)