The Orientation of Paramagnetic and Diamagnetic Rods in Magnetic Fields

It is commonly believed that a paramagnetic rod will align itself with an impressed magnetic field and that a diamagnetic rod will set its long dimension across the field. The present paper shows that this conception is not generally valid. In a strictly uniform field both paramagnetic and diamagnetic rods will set themselves parallel to the field. In a nonuniform field the orientation of each of these rods will depend upon the particular configuration of the field.