[ intro ]
Oh, hi, everyone! You’re just in time.
I’ve been working on some new experiments,
and I’m so excited to show you my latest one:
I can make this ordinary magnet float in the air!
[Squeaks wants to see.]
Thanks, Squeaks! I’m excited, too. Let’s get started.
Alright, first, we take this marker, and we stick it to the table.
I’m using some modeling clay to make it stick.
Next, I take one magnet ring,
and slide it down to the bottom of the marker.
Now, very carefully, I take the next magnet ring,
and lower it down the marker, until…
Presto! A floating magnet!
[Squeaks is amazed]
It’s not exactly a magic trick, Squeaks.
It’s more like… a magnets trick —
because magnets can do all sorts of amazing things!
Magnets are special objects made with metals.
I bet you have some in your classroom or your home —
like, maybe stuck to a refrigerator or whiteboard, or in a toy.
And the important thing about magnets is,
they can make forces.
A force is a push or a pull
. And magnets can push or pull on things made with many kinds of metal, like paper clips or nails.
That’s why you sometimes see magnets stuck to refrigerators.
They can pull so hard on the metal inside the refrigerator that they’ll stick to it!
We call things magnets pull on, like refrigerators, magnetic.
And get this: Magnets don’t even need to be touching something to push or pull on it!
That’s one of the things that makes them so cool.
[Squeaks is excited]
I agree! Magnets are really fun to play with!
Now, testing to see if different things are magnetic can be fun by itself,
but really interesting things happen when you put two magnets together.
Check this out:
Sometimes, the magnets pull on each other, so they stick together really hard.
But now… look what happens when I flip this magnet over.
I can’t push them together!
It’s just like my floating magnet experiment:
the two magnets won’t touch.
It almost feels like they’re pushing against each other!
[Squeaks is confused.]
Great question, Squeaks. Why does this happen?
[to audience] Well, magnets have two sides.
We call them the north pole and the south pole.
[Squeaks answers]
Exactly! It’s a lot like the North and South Pole that you see on a map of the Earth!
In fact, Earth is a giant magnet. But that’s a different story —
one we’ll talk about soon.
When I hold the north pole of one magnet
and the south pole of another magnet near each other,
each magnet makes a really strong force, and the two pull together.
We say that they attract each other.
They actually pull on each other pretty hard,
so I’m being careful that they don’t pinch my fingers.
Now, when I hold two north poles together, the opposite happens:
The magnets push against each other and won’t stick!
In other words, we say that the magnets repel each other.
So, different poles attract each other, and same poles repel each other.
Hey, maybe that’s why they say opposites attract!
[Squeaks.]
You’ve got it, Squeaks!
In my experiment, the two magnets on the marker are repelling each other.
This one has its north pole facing up,
and this one has its north pole facing down, so the two push against each other.
Right now, the side on the top is a south pole,
so if I want to add another floating magnet ring, which side should I put facing the other magnets?
North or south?
[Squeaks answers.]
South pole? Let’s try it!
You were right! Nice work, buddy.
The matching sides are facing each other,
so the magnets repel each other and float.
You can use magnets to do all kinds of fun experiments!
You could try this floating magnet ring experiment at home, or try something new!
Maybe you could use attracting magnets to hold together sheets in a blanket fort.
Or, you could try to balance things on repelling magnets.
[Squeaks asks a question]
Aw, Squeaks, that’s such a fun idea!
We could use magnets to put some art up on the fridge! We can start our own magnet art gallery.
Let us know what you do with magnets!
If you want to send us a note,
you can ask a grown-up to help you e-mail us at kids@scishow.com.
And if you want to explore more science with Squeaks and me,
hit the subscribe button. For now, we’ll see you next time, here at The Fort.
[ outro ]