Title: Magnet Moods
Objective: A bar magnet on a horizontal pivot always turns so that its north pole faces
the south pole of a magnet you're holding in your hand, or vice versa.
Purpose: To show that magnets have two different poles and that like poles repel while
opposite poles attract.
Supplies: Two bar magnets and one horizontal swivel mount for one of the bar magnets.
Procedure: Suspend one of the bar magnets on the horizontal mount. Hold the second
magnet in your hand and show that its poles repel like poles of the horizontally supported
magnet and that its poles attract opposite poles of that magnet.
Science Behind It: As with electric charges, magnetic poles come in two types: north
and south. But unlike electric charges, its impossible to find an isolated north pole or an
isolated south pole. Each bar magnet has a north and a south pole. Like poles on two bar
magnets experience repulsive forces and opposite poles on two bar magnets experience
attractive forces.