Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Magnets and Magnetism





Magnetic materials
Magnets are able to attract objects which are made from certain materials, e.g. iron, steel, nickel and cobalt. These are called magnetic materials.
Non-magnetic materials
Magnets are unable to attract objects which are made from materials such as paper, plastic and copper. These are called non-magnetic materials.
Poles of a magnet
If iron filings are sprinkled over a bar magnet or a horseshoe magnet, most of them will stick to the two ends. These are the strongest parts of the magnets and are called the poles. Magnets have two poles, a north pole and a south pole.
Attraction and repulsion between poles
If two opposite poles are placed close together they attract
If two similar poles are placed close together they repel

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