Fun with Magnets Short Notes
- Magnetite is a rock which acts as a natural magnet.
- The substances having the property of attracting iron are known as magnets.
- Artificial magnets are of different types: bar-magnets, horseshoe magnet, cylindrical or a ball-ended magnet.
- The materials which get attracted towards a magnet are magnetic- for example, iron, nickel or cobalt.
- The materials which are not attracted towards a magnet are non-magnetic.
Poles of a magnet
- Iron filings are attracted more towards the region close to two ends of a bar magnet.
- Poles of a magnet are said to be near these ends.
- A freely suspended bar magnet always comes to rest in a particular direction, which is the North-South direction.
- All magnets have two poles whatever their shape may be.
- The end of the magnet that points towards North is the North Pole.
- The other end is the South Pole.
- This property of magnets is used for finding directions.
- Opposite poles of two magnets attract each other whereas similar poles repel one another.
Cautions
- Magnets lose their properties if they are heated, hammered or dropped down from some height or if they are not stored properly.
- To keep them safe, bar magnets should be kept in pairs with their unlike poles on the same side.
- They must be separated by a piece of wood while two pieces of soft iron should be placed across their ends.
- For horse shoe magnets, one should keep a piece of iron across the poles.
Read More: Chapter 12
