---
title: "Is marble magnetic?"
description: "marble: a magnet does not stick to it. Why, what the magnet test actually detects, and where it gives the wrong answer."
url: https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/marble/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Is marble magnetic?

**Is marble magnetic?: A magnet does not stick to it**

marble

Not attracted.

## What "magnetic" actually means here

Only three elements are ferromagnetic at room temperature — iron, nickel and cobalt — plus their alloys and a few compounds. That is the property a fridge magnet detects. Everything else is either paramagnetic, attracted so weakly that laboratory equipment is needed to see it, or diamagnetic, very slightly repelled. Copper, aluminium and gold are all in that second group, which is why a magnet is a quick and reliable test for whether a "gold" or "brass" item is plated steel.

## The one that catches everybody

Stainless steel is not one material. The austenitic grades — 304 and 316, which are most kitchen and marine stainless — are not magnetic. The ferritic and martensitic grades — 430, 410, and most cheap cutlery — are. So "the magnet does not stick, therefore it is real stainless" is a test that gets it exactly backwards half the time. Worse, cold working austenitic stainless partly converts it, which is why a magnet can stick to the pressed corner of a 304 sink and not to the flat of the same sink.

## How it compares

| Material | Magnet test | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| mild steel | A magnet sticks to it | Strongly attracted. Plain carbon steel is the material most people mean by "magnetic metal". |
| aluminum | A magnet does not stick to it | A magnet will not stick. A magnet *moved past* aluminium induces eddy currents and drags noticeably, which is how recycling plants separate it from other metals. |
| water | Barely — you would need a laboratory to detect it | Diamagnetic. A sufficiently strong magnetic field will levitate water, and famously a live frog, which is mostly water. |
| copper | A magnet does not stick to it | Not attracted at all. A magnet dropped down a copper tube still falls slowly, which is eddy-current braking and not magnetism. |
| gold | A magnet does not stick to it | Not attracted, which is one of the quick tests against gold-plated steel. |
| titanium | Barely — you would need a laboratory to detect it | Paramagnetic — very weakly attracted, far too weakly for a fridge magnet to detect. This is why titanium implants are usually MRI-compatible. |
| concrete | A magnet does not stick to it | Not attracted — but a magnet or a metal detector finds the reinforcing bar inside it, which is how rebar scanners work. |
| stainless steel 304 | A magnet does not stick to it | A magnet does not stick to annealed 304 — it is austenitic. Cold working it, by bending or deep-drawing, converts some austenite to martensite and makes it partly magnetic, which is why a 304 sink can be magnetic at the pressed corners and not in the flat. |
| iron | A magnet sticks to it | The archetype. Iron is what "magnetic" means in ordinary use, and it loses the property entirely above 770 °C, its Curie point. |
| air | Barely — you would need a laboratory to detect it | Oxygen is paramagnetic, so air is very slightly attracted — liquid oxygen visibly sticks to a magnet. |
| ice | Barely — you would need a laboratory to detect it | Diamagnetic like liquid water. |
| lead | A magnet does not stick to it | Not attracted. |
| tungsten | Barely — you would need a laboratory to detect it | Paramagnetic and undetectable with a household magnet. |
| brass | A magnet does not stick to it | Not attracted. A magnet is the quickest way to tell brass from brass-plated steel. |
| pine | A magnet does not stick to it | Not attracted. |
| silver | A magnet does not stick to it | Not attracted. |
| gray cast iron | A magnet sticks to it | Strongly attracted, which is why cast iron works on an induction hob and aluminium does not. |
| diamond | A magnet does not stick to it | Not attracted. |

## Common questions

### Is marble magnetic?

A magnet does not stick to it. Not attracted.

### Why is some stainless steel magnetic and some not?

Because stainless steel is a family. Austenitic grades like 304 and 316 are non-magnetic; ferritic and martensitic ones like 430 and 410 are magnetic. Cold working an austenitic grade partly converts it, so one object can be magnetic in places and not in others.

## Related pages

- [marble](https://atoneplace.net/material/marble/)
- [Does marble rust?](https://atoneplace.net/does-it-rust/marble/)
- [Does marble conduct?](https://atoneplace.net/does-it-conduct/marble/)
- [Is aluminum magnetic?](https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/aluminum/)
- [Is copper magnetic?](https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/copper/)
- [Is gold magnetic?](https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/gold/)
- [Is concrete magnetic?](https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/concrete/)
- [Is stainless steel 304 magnetic?](https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/stainless-304/)
- [Is lead magnetic?](https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/lead/)
- [Is brass magnetic?](https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/brass/)
- [Is pine magnetic?](https://atoneplace.net/is-it-magnetic/pine/)

## Sources

- Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SP 811) — NIST (https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811) [Public domain (US Government)]