Magnets: Seeing Is Believing

13 Magnets: Seeing Is Believing There are many things in the world that we cannot see, feel, hear or touch. Think of wind, for example. On a windy day, we can see trees moving as the wind strikes them. But if someone asked you to take hold of some wind, you would not be able to do it. You can feel the effects of a cold winter wind, but you cannot reach out and grab a piece of that wind. It's the same with the earth's magnetic field. It has no sound. It's invisible. Nothing you do will let you touch it. But it surrounds the earth, and it's an important part of our everyday lives. Deep in the centre of the earth, there is a super hot liquid. As it moves around, it develops magnetism, which surrounds the earth with a powerful magnetic field. The earth's magnetic field plays an important role in our survival. If it did not exist, the sun's radiation would easily burn us.

While you cannot see the magnetic field, it's possible to see its effects. Magnets are special objects with a magnetic field surrounding them. All magnets have a north pole and a south pole. Energy leaves a magnet from the north pole and enters it from the south pole, just like it does on the earth. Magnets attract certain kinds of metals to them. Perhaps you have some papers stuck to your refrigerator with a magnet. How does it work? The refrigerator is made of metal, and the magnet tries to pull this metal towards itself. This pulling force holds the paper to the fridge by the power of magnetism. Perhaps you've seen a compass. This simple instrument was used long ago to help sailors determine the direction in which they were travelling. How does it work? A needle on top of the compass is drawn to the magnetic pull of the earth's North Pole. No matter how you hold the compass, the needle always points north. There are many ways in which we can see the effects of magnetism. But as with wind and many forces of nature, we cannot touch, feel, hear or see it.