[Video link]
He explains that the same repulsive force that prevents solid from passing through solid is amplified in (ferrous) magnets because the molecules are aligned. The molecules' repulsive force act over a far greater distance than usual because of the field they create together.
Is this a good enough explanation? It seems pretty shitty. It explains the difference between regular old steel and a ferromagnet, which scratches my particular itch—it's good enough for me to think that I know how magnets work.
But it also points in the direction of the root cause... if a 'root cause' is knowable. How deep can you dig? To delve deeper would examine why molecules themselves are magnetic, what 'magnetic' means, how electricity and magnetism are the same thing, and other deeply involved subjects.
I'm interested in molecules, and imagine their component atoms with the planetary model; a nucleus of protons and neutrons surrounded by whirling electrons, chemically bonded with other atoms for reasons that I have yet to completely understand.
Here's a list of other things I don't know precisely that seem somehow related to my not truly understanding magnetism at a molecular level:
Heat
Electrons
Neutrons
...and also speed of light stuff. It affects time? What? How does that even begin to make sense?
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