Exploring Magnets

Abstract
Magnets:
magnet is a material or object that can create a magnetic field and attract certain metals like
iron, cobalt, and nickel. It has two poles: a north pole and a south pole, and like poles repel
each other while opposite poles attract. Magnets can be natural or artificial and are used in
various applications due to their attractive and directive properties.

Historical Introduction:
The phenomenon of magnetism has been known to mankind for many thousands of years.
Lodestone (a magnetized form of the commonly occurring iron oxide mineral magnetite) was
the first permanent magnetic material to be identified and studied. The ancient Greeks were
aware of the ability of loadstone to attract small pieces of iron. The Greek word magnes, which
is the root of the English word magnet, is derived from Magnesia, the name of an ancient city in
Asia Minor, which, presumably, was once a copious source of lodestones.

Magnetic Compass:
The magnetic compass was invented sometime during the first ten centuries AD. Credit is
variously given to the Chinese, the Arabs, and the Italians. What is certain is that by the 12th
century magnetic compasses were in regular use by mariners to aid navigation at sea.

Magnetic Poles:
In the 13th century, Peter Perigrinus of France discovered that the magnetic effect of a
spherical loadstone is strongest at two oppositely directed points on the surface of the sphere,
which he termed the poles of the magnet. He found that there are two types of poles, and that
like poles repel one another whereas unlike poles attract.
Earth- A Magnet!
In 1600, the English physician William Gilbert concluded that the reason magnets like to align
themselves in a North-South direction is that the Earth itself is a magnet. Furthermore, the
Earth's magnetic poles are aligned, along its axis of rotation. A magnetic north pole has the
same magnetic polarity as the geographic south pole of the Earth, and a magnetic south pole
has the same polarity as the geographic north pole of the Earth. Thus, the north pole of a
magnet likes to point northwards towards the geographic north pole of the Earth.

Introduction
Magnetite – an Iron Ore:
Magnetite is a naturally occurring magnetic mineral that is also an iron ore. Essentially, it's a
rock that attracts iron and is a source of iron. Magnetite was the first known natural magnet,
and it's also known as lodestone.

Shapes of Magnets:
Magnets come in various shapes, each influencing how their magnetic field behaves and how
they are used. Common shapes include bar, horseshoe, disc, cylinder, and ring magnets. These
shapes impact the strength and direction of the magnetic field and how the magnet interacts
with other objects.

Poles of Magnets:
Magnets have two poles, a north pole and a south pole, where the magnetic force is
strongest. These poles are always found in pairs, and they dictate how magnets interact with
each other and with other magnetic materials. No matter how many times you are breaking a
magnet, the North and South poles exist in that magnet.
If we bring a magnet towards a pile of iron fillings, most of the iron fillings stick onto the poles
and some of it sticks on the remaining magnet.

This shows that the strongest part of a magnet is the poles.

Finding directions

There is a small device called a magnetic compass was developed in olden days for finding
directions. It has a magnet in the shape of a needle which can rotate freely. The
needle of a magnetic compass rotates in the north-south direction. The compass is kept at the
place where we wish to know the directions. After some time, the needle comes to rest in the
north-south direction. The compass box is then gently rotated until the north and south marked
on the dial are aligned with the needle. Now all directions at that place are indicated on the dial.
Attraction and repulsion between magnets
Magnets attract when opposite poles are brought close together, and they repel when like
poles are brought close. This behaviour is due to the magnetic field created by the magnet,
with the field lines pointing away from the North Pole and towards the South Pole.
Magnets interact with each other through attraction and repulsion, governed by the
fundamental rule: unlike poles attract, and like poles repel.

If we take a magnetic compass and a bar magnet, keep the compass on a horizontal surface
and let the needle to rest, and then slowly bring North pole of the magnet close to the North
pole of the compass, we would be able to see that they move away from each other, and if we
repeat the same with the South pole of the magnet, we would see that they move closer.
 MOVING CLOSER MOVING AWAY FROM EACH

TOWARDS EACH OTHER OTHER

Hypothesis
1. Strength and Attraction:
• Hypothesis:

As the strength of a magnet increases, the number of paper clips it can pick up will
also increase.

2. Temperature and Magnetism:

3. Magnetic Monopoles:
• Hypothesis: Magnetic monopoles (isolated north or south poles) exist.

4. Electromagnetism:
• Hypothesis:

Electric currents can generate magnetic fields, and magnetic fields can induce
electric currents.’