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How do the Curie temperatures of iron, cobalt, nickel, and gadolinium differ?

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Diagram showing a circular loop of wire with an electric current, surrounded by curved blue lines representing magnetic field lines that loop around the wire and pass through its center. — magnetism Some lines of the magnetic field B (blue) for an electric current I (gold) in a loop.

The Curie point is the temperature at which a magnetic material undergoes a sharp change in its magnetic properties, losing its spontaneous ferromagnetism and becoming paramagnetic. The Curie temperatures for these elements differ significantly:

Cobalt: Has the highest Curie point among the three common ferromagnetic metals, at 1,121 °C (2,050 °F).1
Iron: Has a Curie point of 770 °C (1,418 °F).1
Nickel: Has a Curie point of 358 °C (676 °F).2
Gadolinium: Has a Curie point of 293 K (20 °C, or 68 °F), making it the only lanthanide that is ferromagnetic near room temperature.3

Raising the temperature to these respective points disrupts the spontaneous alignment of atomic magnets within the materials, resulting in a transition to a weaker state of magnetism.1