Magnets

• Magnetism


  An attractive subject, but don't get repelled by the exam-revise
• Magnets


  • Produce magnetic fields
  • Have two poles - north and south
  • The magnetic field is strongest at the poles
• Showing a magnetic field

  1. Drawing magnetic field lines

  2. The lines always go from north to south

  3. The closer together the lines, the stronger the magnetic field

  4. The further away from a magnet, the weaker the field
• Force between a magnet and a magnetic material

  Always attractive, no matter the pole
• Force between two poles of a magnet

  Attractive if unlike poles, repulsive if like poles
• Compasses


  • Show the direction of magnetic fields
  • The north pole of the compass needle is attracted to the south pole of any other magnet
  • When not near a magnet, compass needles always point north
• The Earth generates its own magnetic field, which shows that the inside (core) of the Earth must be magnetic