Ib qho sib cais sib nqus yog ib qho cuab yeej sib faib cais ntau cov khoom siv los ntawm lawv cov khoom sib nqus. Txij li thaum xyoo 19th cov kev sib nqus sib nqus sib luag tau siv los tswj thiab cais cov zaub mov. Ferromagnetism, paramagnetism, thiab diamagnetism yog peb qho tseem ceeb ntawm cov zaub mov. Ferro hlau nplaum yog cov hlau nplaum uas lawv lo rau cov hlau nplaum thiab tau yooj yim tshem tawm tom qab. Paramagnetic thiab diamagnetic lwm yam minerals tawm nrog ib lub magnetic teb nyob rau hauv ib txoj kev sib txawv.
Paramagnetic minerals yog weakly attracted rau hauv ib lub magnetic teb thiab cov zaub mov diamagnetic weakly repelled ntawm lub teb magnetic. Yog li ntawd, yog tias cov khoom sib xyaws ntawm cov tshuab paug thiab cov tshuab hluav taws xob sib txuas ntawm cov tshuab hlau (magnetic field), lawv yuav tsum tau rub tawm hauv lub tshav pob (paragnetic) los yog cov uas tau tawm ntawm lub teb (diamagnetic) thiab tej zaum yuav raug sib cais. Lub tshuab hluav taws xob sib cais tawm cais cov minerals muaj xws li electromagnets lossis tsis tshua muaj hlau nplaum lub ntiaj teb ntawm qhov sib txawv loj thiab lub zog.
