Magnetic Properties

Magnet was known quite long ago to the people in China and Europe that a piece of magnetite, hung freely, always settled in the north-south direction.

• These rocks then came to be used for finding directions while travelling through unknown regions. That is why they are also called lodestones (leading stones). This led to the invention of the mariner’s compass.
• Magnets can have a variety of shapes depending on their uses. Today, magnets are used in many machines and gadgets or devices. They are all man-made magnets.
• Find out where the magnets shown in the pictures below are used.
• Bar magnets, disc magnets, horseshoe magnets, ring-shaped magnets, cylindrical magnets, and also small button magnets are the different shapes of magnets in everyday use.

Various man-made magnets

1. Attractive Property: A magnet can attract objects made from materials like iron, nickel, and cobalt and pull them toward itself.
2. Directive Property: When a magnet is freely suspended, it always points in the north-south direction. This is why magnets are used in compasses to find directions.
3. Laws of Magnetic Poles: The same poles (North-North or South-South) push each other away. Opposite poles (north-south) pull toward each other.
4. Poles Exist in Pairs: A magnet always has two poles: a North Pole and a South Pole. Even if you cut a magnet in half, each piece will still have both a north and a south pole.
5. Magnetic Induction: A magnet can turn a nearby iron object into a temporary magnet. When the iron object is near the magnet, it becomes magnetised and can attract other iron objects as well.