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What is magnetism?
Magnetism is the force of attraction or repulsion of a magnetic material due to the arrangement
of its atoms, particularly its electrons. Positive charges protons, negative charges electrons
The ends of a magnet are where the magnetic effect is the strongest. All objects are made of
tiny particles called atoms which have negatively charged electrons spinning around inside
them. This spinning creates a small magnetic field.
In magnets, these electrons spin together in the same direction, increasing their charge and
their pull (magnetic field). This causes little regions, known as magnetic domains, where all the
atoms in each region line up together so that they are all pointing in the same direction.
Magnetism is therefore a physical force. Materials that carry magnetic properties are called
magnets.
A magnet has two ends (called poles),one is the north pole and the other is south pole. The
north pole of one magnet attracts the south pole of a second pole “like poles repel – unlike
poles attract”.
A magnet creates an invisible area of magnetism all around it called a magnetic field.
If you cut a magnet in half you will get two new magnets each with a north pole and a south
pole.
What causes/ creates and destroys magnetism?
If you run a magnet a few times over an unmagnetised piece of a magnetic material (such as a
iron nail), you can convert it into a magnet aswell. This is called magnetization.
Iron is the king of magnetic materials. Other materials that are also magnetic including Nickel,
Cobalt.
Un-magnetized objects have their atoms aligned in a random fashion, whereas magnetized
objects have atoms aligned with the north pole facing one direction and the south pole facing
the opposite direction.
Demagnetize an object by dropping it several times on a non-magnetic object, such as the
floor.
Magnetism mainly occurs in objects of metallic composition. Electrons of magnets face the
same direction. If the electrons are oriented randomly, the object is not magnetic. It is this
aligning, cohesive pattern of electrons that makes them all pull in a collective force. This is the
source of the magnetic force.
How do magnet objects interact with each other?
http://www.physics4kids.com/files/elec_charge.html
Magnetic and non magnetic objects
Objects such as nails, pins, paper clips, screw drivers, hammers can be magnetic
Objects such as wood, glass, paper are not magnetic