What energy is at work in magnetism and how is it dissipating?

I will attempt to tackle your questions one paragraph at a time, since you asked many good questions in your post. NOTE: I have found that after reading though your post and attempting to answer your questions thoroughly, you frequently talk about electromagnets and permanent magnets interchangeably. They are not the same thing, and they do not achieve magnetism through the same mechanism. It is important to separate these mechanisms in your mind, so that you may understand these concepts. First lets start by saying that while magnetism in permanent magnets depends on a number of criteria. For a quite simple explanation of magnets, see this video by minutephysics. Now on to your questions. 1. There is no energy dissapated in the process of holding two magnets in place in proximity to eachother as long as they are not moving relative to eachother. This may be non-intuitive to most people, but usually the misunderstanding comes down to the formal definitions of Energy, Force and Work vs. the everyday definition. When you are holding two magnets apart from eachother, you are applying a Force to the magnets. A Force is relatively self-explanatory. It is what happens when you push a couch, when you hold up your phone, and when you hold magnets apart. Those are physical forces. Note: The object does not need to move for a force to be applied. Also, if a Force is applied and the object does not move, there is (at least) another force being applied to counteract the force applied. When you stand, you apply a force on the earth, and the earth applies the opposite force on your feet. When you apply force on the magnets, the magnets apply force onto your body. (this is a magnetic force) Note on forces and work: Applying a force alone does NOT mean that work is being performed. The formal definition of work requires a Force to displace an object a distance. The mathematical equation for the magnitude of the force is: Work=Force*distance displaced (There is also a cosine factor involved, but for our purposes it does not apply as we are displacing in the same direction as the force being applied.) By holding two magnets in the same place we are applying a Force but not doing any Work, or dissipating any Energy. We could do work on the system by adjusting the force applied to the magnets to move them closer together or further apart. In this process, since we have displacement, we would be performing work(or the magnets would be performing work on us). In this case we would only have 2 forms of Energy. We have Kinetic Energy, the Energy of motion. We also have Magnetic Potential Energy. When you are holding the magnets apart from each other, we have M.P.E. only. This is a product of the magnetic moment of the object and the magnetic field surrounding it. The potential states just what kind of energy it is. It is Energy that is stored and waiting. It could be released, but it is not currently doing anything. If you let the magnets go, you will release some of the M.P.E. and turn it into Kinetic Energy. When you stop and reverse the process, you reverse the energy transfer. A note on heat energy: Heat can be generated a few different ways and none of them apply significantly to this situation. Chemical processes-Oxidation(Fire, Rust), Reduction. Not happening. Nuclear processes- Fission, Fusion. Not here. Electrical processes- Resistance(Batteries are a chemical process) Nope. Mechanical processes-Friction: Skin, and Internal. Yes! Sort of. Skin friction will cause some heating as the air passes around the magnet, and will generate a small(read:negligible) amount of heat. Also, if the magnets are allowed to slam into each other(assuming they don't crack), they will compress each other and create heat from compression. This is also negligible compared to the magnitude of the M.P.E. and K.E. That is why you don't feel heat escaping from the system. 2. Already answered. See 1. 3. You are confusing magnetic force and electric potential(Voltage). They are not the same thing. If two objects had a significantly different electron density, when they come into contact, the electrons will tend to distribute themselves among the objects. Once they equalize, the transfer of electrons stops. This is why a doorknob can give you a zap, but not electrocute you. Electrocution comes from completing an electrical circuit using a part of your body as a path for electrons to pass through. Although the magnets may carry a different electron density, they are not sources of electricity. They are just ordinary objects that happen to have their atoms aligned in a certain way. 4. I don't understand some of the wording here, but I will do my best. The magnetic field can not be "stopped" in any conventional sense. Magnetic fields from the smallest magnetic objects permeate the whole universe. They become very weak over long distances, but they never disappear entirely. If we are talking about permanent magnets, their magnetism can be neutralized by heating, or by applying current(or magnetic fields, i suppose) in random directions and magnitudes until all the particles are "scrambled" The domains of the magnet would cancel eachother out, and the object would become magnetically inert. See the video above for more information. Forces do not require movement to be applied. You are confused with work. See the note on forces and work above. There is no pressure or centrifugal forces associated with gravity. Gravity is a fundamental force of the universe. It attracts everything with mass or energy. The attraction of gravity is a Force just like Magnetic force or Electrostatic force. Please clarify your question here, if you would like a more detailed explanation. 5.The term "Static Energy" is not a commonly accepted type of Energy. If you mean static electricity, refer to 3. If you mean Potential Energy, or Magnetic Potential Energy, refer to the paragraph above the note on heat energy. There is a terminology issue here. Energy is a sum of components. Classical mechanics distinguishes between Potential and Kinetic Energy, though there are others and many categories within those two. Most things are measured indirectly. We measure heat using the temperature of an object. Heat is the amount of excitation inside a substance. It is not the same thing as temperature. We measure gravity using time and distance. More precisely we measure the Gravitational Constant using a system of masses and pendulums with force meters. We measure electricity using magnetic deflection or heat, or any number of other process. We don't count electrons. We measure light using electro-chemical sensors. In fact, magnetism is one of the few phenomena that we can measure directly( or nearly so). If we want to measure a magnetic field, we can shoot a charged particle through the field we want to measure. The Lorentz Equation tells us that a charged particle will curve through a magnetic field. We need to detect the particles location at the end of its journey, and we can tell how much it was deflected. Assuming we knew the speed and charge of the particle(usually an atom or a electron), we can calculate the exact magnitude and orientation of the magnetic field. This is a well proven method for measuring a magnetic field and it is quite simple to show experimentally. If you want a more rigorous explanation of the Lorentz force, this video should do it. Rather than saying the magnetic field attracts itself, it would be better to say that Magnetic Fields only interact with electrically charged objects and magnetically susceptible objects. This stands in line with the fact that Electric Fields only interact with electrically charged objects, and that Gravitational Fields only interact with objects with mass and/or energy. 6. See the paragraph above. Magnets do not always force the objects they attact to align poles. In order to align, they must apply a large enough magnetic field to force an alignment. Even then, when the field is removed, the object may "relax" into its previous state. Magnetic fields do not generate any electrical current. A CHANGE in magnetic field generates an electric current, only as long as the field keeps changing! See this awesome video for a simple and awesome demonstration. Watch your speaker volume. To be more specific, magnetism isn't generated by the electrons themselves, but by the electron structures(in permanent magnets). 7. I am afraid you are misinformed on the subject. If you are talking about electromagnets now(which i assume you are doing), we know exactly the mechanism by which current can generate magnetic fields. We use these properties to design inductors and transformers. The field is generated because of relativity. Another video? YAY!!!! 8. Remember: Energy is not "used" it is converted. If a permanent magnet is attached to something and being held in place, there is no Work being done as the Magnetic Force and Gravitaional Force are in equilibrium and there is no displacement. Heat will not be generated because there is no friction or chemical change occuring. 9. We harness electromagnetic potential all the time. Inductors use the magnetic field to store current. Ever seen one of these? Once again, the line is blurring between electromagnets and permanent magnets. You can adjust the Magnetic field of an electromagnet by adjusting the current flowing through the coil. For 2 permanent magnets, you can reverse the force by flipping one of the magnets. If that was not your question please consider rephrasing it so I can understand better. 10. The question I think you were asking would be "What forces are at work?" and they are not "dissipated". I think if you better understand the difference between Force, Work, and Energy, you will have a better understanding of the relationships that govern Electromagnetics. P.S. I do not mean to sound condescending, This is actually a complicated and unintuitive area of study. I am trying to be as helpful as possible, It took me several hours to write all this up, and If you have any other questions or need clarifications, please let me know, and I would be happy to explain, or refer you to someone who can explain.