Teaching imaging of magnetic resonance (MR) today is still as challenging as it has always been,
because it requires admitting that we cannot express fundamental questions of quantum mechanics with
straightforward language or without using extensive theory. Here we allow students to face a real MR
setup based on the Earth’s magnetic field. We address the applied side of teaching MR using a device
that is affordable and that proves to be sufficiently robust, at universities in Orsay, France, and
San Sebastian, Spain, in experimental practicals at undergraduate and graduate levels. We
specifically present some of the advantages of low field for measuring R 2 relaxation rates,
reaching a power of separation of 1.5 μ mol on Mn(II) ions between two water bottles each of half a
liter. Finally we propose key approaches for the lecturers to adopt when they are asked to pass from
theoretical knowledge to teachable knowhow. The outcomes are fast calibration and the MR
acquisiti…