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🧲 How Magnets Work

Explore the invisible power of magnets: their two poles, the rule that opposite poles attract and like poles repel, and why only iron, nickel, cobalt and steel are magnetic.

lessons

~20 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Ages 6–12

level

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What you’ll learn

Magnets and PolesUnderstand that a magnet pulls on some metals and has two poles.A magnet is an object that pulls on certain metals, even across a small gap. Its pull is strongest at two special ends called poles — a north pole and a south pole. Every magnet has both.
Attract and RepelLearn the rule that opposite poles attract and like poles repel.When magnets pull together they attract; when they push apart they repel. The golden rule is that opposite poles (north and south) attract, while like poles (two norths or two souths) repel.
What Is Magnetic?Identify which materials are magnetic and which are not.Magnets only pull on iron, nickel, cobalt and steel (which is mostly iron). Most materials — wood, plastic, glass, paper, and even metals like copper, aluminium and gold — are not magnetic.

Questions this course answers

Every magnet has how many poles?

Every magnet has two poles: a north pole and a south pole.

Where is a magnet's pull strongest?

A magnet's pull is strongest at its poles, the two special ends.

What happens when the north pole of one magnet meets the south pole of another?

Opposite poles attract, so a north and a south pull together.

Two north poles are pushed toward each other. What happens?

Like poles repel, so two north poles push away from each other.

Which is the golden rule of magnet poles?

The golden rule is that opposite poles attract and like poles repel.

Which material is magnetic?

Iron is a magnetic metal, along with nickel, cobalt and steel.

Grounded in trusted sources

BBC Bitesize — Magnets
Britannica Kids

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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