Question: kathryn whats magmotsom

Kathryn Boast answered on 7 Mar 2019:

Magnetism is an effect where two things are pulled together or pushed apart because of something we call a “magnetic field”. Different stuff has different magnetic properties. Some stuff you can make into a permanent magnet so that it will always do magnetic things. Other stuff will then be pulled towards that thing because of its magnetic field.
Permanent magnets always have two ends – a north pole and a south pole. They are often painted red and blue so you can tell which is which. The two ends behave differently. You’ll find you can’t stick a north pole to another north pole – they push apart. But you can stick a north pole to a south pole. And if you take another piece of stuff like a paperclip that *isn’t* a magnet but *is* magnetic, it will stick to either end of the magnet.