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Magnets Attract and Repel

By Cindy Grigg You've probably played with magnets. You know some things about them already. You know that magnets can push and pull on some objects. Do you know why? Magnets attract some-but not all-metals. A magnet won't attract a penny or a soft drink can. Magnets do not attract paper, cloth, or plastic. Magnets are made of metals like iron, nickel, steel, or cobalt. These are the metals that magnets attract, too. Some rocks with these metals inside them are natural magnets called lodestones. Magnetism is a force. We can't see it. It acts on some objects so we know it is there. Magnetism comes from the electric charges found in atoms. Everything is made of tiny particles called atoms. Atoms are made of even smaller parts. One of these is the electron. Moving electrons are the cause of magnetism. Each atom has electrons moving around its center. In a magnet, the electrons pull in the same direction. In things that aren't magnets, the domains of all the atoms are mixed up. They pull in all different directions. An area of force around a magnet is called its magnetic field. An iron object within this area will be pulled toward the magnet. The field is strongest at the poles of a magnet and weakest in the middle. When iron comes close to a magnet, the magnet's magnetic field causes the domains of all the atoms to line up the same way. That's how magnets attract metals. A compass shows which direction is north. The needle of a compass will always point north because it lines up with Earth's magnetic field. Earth is magnetic because it has iron in its center. Earth's iron core acts like a giant bar magnet. You can make a magnet out of steel or iron. Try it with a paper clip or a sewing needle. All you have to do is rub the metal with a magnet. If you rub gently in one direction over and over again, the domains of the atoms will line up. Your paper clip will become magnetized. Then if you tap the paper clip against the table, it will lose its magnetism. Tapping it causes the domains of the atoms to get mixed up again. Heating the paper clip would also cause it to lose its magnetic force. Magnets can be made by sending an electric current through metal. Magnets can be any shape. Bar magnets are rectangles. Some magnets are shaped like circles. Ring magnets have holes in the middle. No matter how they are shaped, all magnets have a north pole and a south pole. Most magnets are marked with an "N" and "S" showing where the poles are. Sometimes they are marked with plus and minus signs instead. Try putting two magnets together. Opposite poles, one north and one south, attract or pull toward each other. Two north poles will push away from or repel each other. Two south poles repel each other, too. Opposite poles attract. Like poles repel. The two poles are opposite and equal in strength. Some magnets are shaped like the letter "U." They are called horseshoe magnets. This shape lets the two poles be close together instead of on opposite ends. This gives the horseshoe magnet a stronger pulling force. The horseshoe shape lets a magnet pick up heavier pieces of metal than a bar magnet of the same size. Magnets are used for many things. Magnets are found inside electric motors and generators. Without magnets, we would not have electric lights, telephones, or computers. Most of the electrical energy we use every day comes from generators. Magnets make so many things possible!

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Magnets Attract and Repel

Questions
1. Magnets attract what kind of objects? A. some metals B. all kinds of metals C. paper and cloth D. plastic and leather 2. A rock that is a magnet is called a ______.

3. What is a magnetic field?

4. Where is a magnetic field strongest? A. at the poles of the magnet B. in the middle of the magnet C. It is equally strong everywhere in the field. D. none of the above 5. Horseshoe magnets do not have separate poles. A. false B. true 6. Which of these word pairs are antonyms? A. pull, attract B. attract, repel C. magnet, metal D. north, east 7. Which of these word pairs are synonyms? A. north, south B. attract, push C. repel, pull D. ends, poles 8. What is an advantage of the horseshoe magnet?

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Write five sentences that are facts about magnets.

(Cause and effect) Explain what causes something to be a magnet.