BrightKidz Library
Subjects
A horseshoe magnet with paper clips clinging to both poles A big horseshoe magnet stands in the middle with its two legs pointing down. The tip of each leg is a darker block, because the two ends behave differently. A paper clip hangs from each tip, and three more paper clips are being pulled in from the right, with dashes trailing behind them.

Discover the Magic of Magnets

About 4 minutes

Turn a magnet around and it can switch from pulling an object toward it to pushing it away — the same magnet, doing the opposite job, depending on which end faces out. Try it yourself with the experiments below.

What You'll Need

Let's Experiment

Follow these steps to explore magnets:

  1. Magnet Hunt: Take a magnet and see what it sticks to. Try different objects. Which things are magnetic? Which aren't?
  2. Paper Clip Chain: Hold a magnet near a paper clip. Does it stick? Now, try to make a chain of paper clips, one hanging from the other, using the magnet.
  3. Floating Magnet: Tie a piece of string to the middle of a bar magnet. Hold the string up. Does the magnet stay level? Now, try to hold the magnet still and bring a paper clip near it. What happens?
  4. Testing Objects: Test your other objects with a magnet. Do they stick? Make a list of what works and what doesn't.

Why Magnets Work

Magnets have a special force called magnetism. This force pulls on certain metals, like iron. Magnets have two ends called poles: a north pole and a south pole. Opposite poles (north and south) attract each other, and similar poles (north and north, or south and south) push away from each other.

Safety First

Try This Next

Can you build a simple magnetic maze? Draw a maze on a piece of paper. Place a paper clip on the maze and use a magnet underneath the paper to guide the paperclip through the maze.

Pole to Pole

Three magnets sit on a rail beside one that is clamped down, and dashed marks show where each of them belongs. You cannot push a magnet along the rail. All you can do is turn one round, and then they move themselves: a north end and a south end clasp together, and two ends that are the same shove apart. A magnet has two opposite ends, so turning one changes the joint on both sides of it. Then a tray to sort: an iron nail, a steel paperclip, aluminum foil, a copper coin, a plastic brick and a second magnet. Two of those metals are not pulled at all, and the second magnet can be pulled in or pushed away depending on which way round it is.