How do magnets work?

How do we know?

↻ One of the pages with a moving picture

A rock that pulls on iron was noticed 2,600 years ago.

1. Every magnet has a north pole and a south pole. Opposite poles attract. Like poles push apart.
2. An invisible magnetic field surrounds every magnet. It lets magnets pull and push without touching.
3. All magnetism comes down to electrons. Each electron is a teeny tiny magnet.
4. Iron is full of tiny areas called domains. When the domains all line up, the iron becomes a magnet.

Lodestone is a natural magnet. About 600 BC in Miletus, in today’s Turkey, a Greek thinker named Thales noticed that it pulls on iron. He guessed it had a soul!

Later, people in ancient China used lodestone to make early compasses.

Scientists say lodestone still has some mysterious properties.

Wow number

3 Only three elements are magnetic at room temperature: iron, nickel and cobalt. Gadolinium loses its magnetism above about 68°F.

Myth or fact?

Gold, silver and aluminum stick to magnets. Myth. These metals do not attract magnets.

A hard hit can weaken a magnet. Fact. A swift blow can knock the lined-up domains out of line.

Think about it

Lodestone still has some mysterious properties, scientists say. Why do you think a rock would be a magnet?

Where in the world?

Miletus, in today’s Turkey where, about 600 BC, a Greek thinker named Thales noticed that a rock called lodestone pulls on iron — 37.5302° N, 27.2788° E.

Where these facts come from

Every number on page 93, and who measured it

Has this changed?

How magnets work is not going to change.

Scientists say lodestone still has some mysterious properties, so there is more to learn.

Words from this page

magnetic field

The invisible area around a magnet where it can pull or push.

domain

A tiny area inside iron where all the little magnets can line up.

lodestone

A rock that is a natural magnet.

Go further