Question

How will you do this?
(a) Determine whether a material is magnetic or non-magnetic.
(b) Explain that a magnet has a certain magnetic field.
(c) Find the north pole of a magnet.

Answer 1

(a) If a material sticks to a magnet, then it is a magnetic material otherwise it is a non-magnetic material.

(b) A magnet has a certain magnetic field which can be demonstrated using the below activity.
Take a drawing cardboard and sprinkle some iron filings on it. Notice the position of the iron filings as a whole. Now, take a bar magnet and slowly bring it below the cardboard. You will observe that the iron filings tend to attract towards the magnet and align themselves as shown.

It represents that the magnet exerts a force around its body with a stronger force near the two poles. Also, this regular pattern of the iron filings on the board represents the lines of magnetic field. Thus, a magnet has a certain magnetic field which can be represented by curved lines around a magnet.

(c) Tie a thread to the centre of a magnet and hang it from a stand as shown. Wait till the magnet settles itself.

The pole that point towards the geographic north is the North-Pole of the magnet.