1. If you cut a magnet in half, you get 2 smaller magnets as a result, each with its own north and south pole.
2. The north pole of a magnet points to the north pole of the earth. This is because they are both giant magnets and they are lining up. This is how a compass works.
3. To make a new magnet, take an existing one and then rub it on a new piece of metal. This process is called magnetization and it will turn any piece of metal into a magnet.
4. Electromagnets are not magnetic all the time. If you pass electricity through a nail wrapped in copper wire, it becomes a magnet. Once you stop the flow of electricity, it’s just a nail and a wire again.
5. A magnetic field is an invisible area around each magnet that attracts metals and other magnets. That is why you can slowly push 2 magnets together and they will jump each other, due to entering their magnetic fields.
6. The magnetic field created by the Earth is so great and strong that it stretches out into space. The Earth is made of metals and materials like iron, which makes it a smaller magnet than you could have at home.
7. Fridge magnets are used around the world in family homes and in the United States, seen an average of 20 times a day!
8. The power of a magnet is measured in Tesla (which was the name of a scientist who specialized in electricity). Although the Earth is massive and a giant magnet, it is around 1000 times weaker than a small magnet you might have at home.
9. Magnetism was discovered and used more than 800 years ago in ancient Greece and China. They even had their own compasses.
10. Iron is the best metal to use as a magnet, as it is naturally magnetic. Others are nickel and cobalt, but if you have a magnet at home, it is most likely made of iron or ferrites, which is a metal made of many different elements.