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Chapter 3 Magnetism:

What is Magnetism?:

  • Magnetism is a force

  • A magnet is a piece of metal that can attract other substances

  • Objects that can be picked up or attracted by magnest are made from magnetic material. Objects which cannot be picked up by magnets are made from non-magnetic material

  • Lodestone is a natural magnet that occurs freely in nature as a balck rock

  • Three elements and their alloys can be magnetised- Iron, cobalt and nickel

  • A magnet is strongest at both ends. These are known as the poles

  • Like Poles repel, opposites attract

  • The true test for determining whether a substance is magnetic or not is repulsion

Left: Lodestone as it freely occurs in nature
 
Right: A common bar magnet thta will be found in most laboratories
Further Notes on Magnetism:

  • A magnetic field is the space around a magnet which has a magnetic effect

  • The lines on a magnetic field will always point away from North and towards south

  • A compass is a magnet that is free to rotate and indicate direction

  • A wire which has a current flowing through it has a magnetic field around it

  • The magnetic north pole is the geographical South Pole and visa versa

  • An electromagnet becomes a magnet when a current flows through its coil

  • The Earth behaves as if there is a magnet in its center giving it a magnetic field

Left: The magnetic field of a bar magnet and the poles of the magnet indicated as N and S
 
Right: As the diagram states the world acts like a magnet due to the iron and nickel filled core

© 2016 by Vincent Savage and John Harrington. Young Scientists and Historians

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