How many poles are there in a magnet

Columbus as well as other explorers also used magnetic needles as a compass to help them across the Atlantic Ocean. The earth is like a giant magnet, but unlike two free hanging magnets, the north pole of a magnet is attracted to the north pole of the earth.

The earth is the biggest magnet on the earth itself. It is made up of mostly iron and nickel. The outer core is made up of melted, molten rock, which has metal in it. The center or inner core of the earth is made up of metal too. When the inner core moves against the outer core, this makes earth turn into one huge magnet. Introduce lesson by reviewing what we already know about magnets. Give each pair an experiment sheet to complete.

Explain and model how to do sheet with out actually doing the experiment. Tell students to draw using arrows what happens when they touch each of the sides together. Colloquium and drama: Discuss their discoveries. Have children act this out. One child could be north and hold his hands in front of him. In fact finding magnetic poles on their own, or magnetic monopoles, is an idea that was suggested first in by physicist Paul Dirac.

The idea has also been put forward in some modern theories that try to connect all the forces together grand unified theories. However so far all experimental searches for these elusive particles have proved fruitless.

So, if the question of monopoles is bothering pupils in class you can assure them it bothers physicists too.

A Physics Narrative presents a storyline, showing a coherent path through a topic For 5 Resources. For 17 Resources. A clue as to the shape of the field due to a single current-carrying wire: when a compass is placed above the wire and the Physics Narrative Some pupils will argue that air is needed to enable magnets to attract and repel each other. Teaching Guidance Supposing you have an iron nail. If we continue to split the magnet, we will eventually get down to an iron atom with a north pole and a south pole—these, too, cannot be separated.

The fact that magnetic poles always occur in pairs of north and south is true from the very large scale—for example, sunspots always occur in pairs that are north and south magnetic poles—all the way down to the very small scale. Magnetic atoms have both a north pole and a south pole, as do many types of subatomic particles, such as electrons, protons, and neutrons. Volcanic and other such activity at the mid-Atlantic ridge extrudes material to fill the gap between separating tectonic plates associated with continental drift.

The magnetization of rocks is found to reverse in a coordinated manner with distance from the ridge. Skip to main content. Search for:. Magnets Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you will be able to: Describe the difference between the north and south poles of a magnet.

Describe how magnetic poles interact with each other. The compass method is one way to tell what pole is which, but you can feel free to contact us if you have questions about our magnet products or identifying polarity. Photo by Aney.

Business Customers Our Blog Videos. What are Magnetic Poles The poles are the points at which the lines of magnetic flux emit and connect. How to Identify the North and South Poles of a Magnet You can purchase some magnets with the north and south poles indicated on them.

Here is one method: Using a Compass to Identify Magnet North Pole Take a magnetic compass and place it close to but not touching your magnet.