North, south, push and pull
Every magnet has a north pole and a south pole. On many school magnets the poles are marked N and S, or painted red and blue. When two magnets come near each other, they either pull together or push apart. Two like poles, north and north or south and south, repel: they push each other away. Two unlike poles, north and south, attract: they pull together and stick. You can feel this in your hands before the magnets even touch. If a magnet hangs on a thread, it slowly turns until one end points north. That end is the north pole. In a magnet maze, a magnet sits on the START box of a paper maze. You must move it to the END box using only a second magnet, and the two magnets must never touch. You can pull the first magnet with an unlike pole, or push it with a like pole. If the magnets touch, you start again. Keep your fingers out from between two magnets, because they can pinch when they snap together.
| Poles facing each other | What happens |
|---|---|
| N and S | pull together |
| S and N | pull together |
| N and N | push apart |
| S and S | push apart |
Magnet poles, with a grown-up. Use two bar magnets with marked poles. First hold the two magnets with their north ends facing and move them slowly closer. Then turn one magnet round so that a north end faces a south end. For each try, draw the two magnets, label the poles N and S, and write one sentence about what happened. Next make a magnet maze: draw a path with turns on thick paper, put a magnet on START, and use a second magnet to bring it to END without touching it. If they touch, start again. A problem to solve: papers keep sliding off a teacher’s desk. How could magnets help? Keep magnets away from phones, cards and screens, and keep fingers clear when magnets snap together.