Magnets

• Magnet

  A material or object that produces a magnetic field
• Magnets


  • Can attract and repel things towards and away from it
  • Are metals that attract other metals
  • Every magnet is a metal, but not all metals are magnets
  • Have two poles - South Pole and North Pole
  • Opposite poles attract, like poles repel
  • Magnetic forces are non-contact forces
• Magnetic domain


  Little groups of atoms that act like tiny magnets
• Magnetic materials


  • Iron
  • Cobalt
  • Nickel
• Non-magnetic materials


  • Copper
  • Aluminium
  • Brass
• Magnetising a material


  1. Stroke it with a magnet to align the domains

  2. Place a magnet next to it to align the domains
• Heating a magnet


  Removes its magnetism
• Hitting a magnet with a hammer


  Removes its magnetism
• Magnetic field

  • The area where a magnet could attract something
  • An invisible area of magnetism around a magnet
• Plotting the magnetic field around a bar magnet using a plotting compass

  1. Place the plotting compass near the magnet on a piece of paper

  2. Mark the direction the compass needle points

  3. Move the plotting compass to many different positions in the magnetic field, marking the needle direction each time

  4. Join the points to show the field lines