Key Stage 2 · Year 3 · Science · 2 minutes
How do magnets work?
Iron and steel stick. Opposite poles attract, like poles repel.
Key terms
- Magnet
- An object that can push and pull some things without touching them.
- Attract
- To pull towards; magnets attract iron and steel, and opposite poles attract each other.
- Repel
- To push apart; like poles of two magnets repel.
- Poles
- The two ends of a magnet, a north pole and a south pole, where its pulling power is strongest.
- Magnetic field
- The invisible area around a magnet where it can pull, which iron filings can show.
- Compass
- A tool with a magnetic needle that always points north.
Transcript
What can stick to a fridge without any glue? A magnet! Magnets can push and pull things without even touching them. Let's find out how.
Magnets attract some materials, but not others. A paperclip jumps onto the magnet. So does an iron nail. But a wooden pencil, a plastic button and a rubber? Nothing happens.
Here's a surprise. Not all metals are magnetic! Iron and steel are. But aluminium foil and copper wire? The magnet ignores them completely.
Every magnet has two ends, called poles. A north pole, and a south pole. A magnet's pulling power is strongest at its poles.
But how can a magnet pull without touching? All around it is an invisible magnetic field. Sprinkle on some tiny bits of iron, called iron filings, and the field appears! The lines loop from one pole round to the other.
Now bring in a second magnet. North facing south? They attract, and snap together. North facing north? They repel, and push apart. Opposite poles attract. Like poles repel.
Magnets can even pull from a distance, and through paper. That's why we use them to keep fridge doors shut, to hold up pictures, and in a compass, where a magnetic needle always points north.
So remember: magnets attract iron and steel, but not every metal. Every magnet has a north and a south pole. And opposite poles attract, while like poles repel.
Sources
Every fact in the video, and where it comes from.
- 1gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in…
- Year 3 programme of study: notice that magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others; compare and group materials on whether they are attracted to a magnet and identify some magnetic materials; describe magnets as having two poles; predict whether two magnets will attract or repel depending on which poles are facing.
- 2bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zyttyrd
- Iron, steel (most), nickel and cobalt are magnetic; aluminium and copper are not attracted to a magnet.
- A compass needle is a small magnet that lines up with Earth's magnetic field and points north.
- 3thenational.academy/teachers/programmes/science-primary-ks2/units/…
- Magnetic force is a non-contact force that can act at a distance and through materials such as paper.
- 4thenational.academy/pupils/lessons/how-can-we-see-a-magnetic-field…
- Iron filings line up along the magnetic field, showing field lines running from pole to pole; the field is strongest at the poles.
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