The Power of Magnets

The Power of Magnets, written by Elizabeth Austin.

《磁铁的力量》，作者：伊丽莎白·奥斯汀。

Invisible magnetism. A magnet is a special metal that attracts other metals. Look around your home and try to find one. Did you know that there may be hundreds of magnets in your home? You can't see most of them, but they're inside your telephone, blender, and hairdryer. Computers are full of magnets, and most of the electricity that runs these things comes from magnetism.

看不见的磁力。 磁铁是一种能吸引其他金属的特殊金属。 看看你家各处，试着找一块磁铁吧。 你知道吗，你家里说不定有数百个磁铁哦？ 大多数磁铁你都看不见，但它们藏在你的电话、搅拌机和吹风机里。 电脑里也装满了磁铁， 而驱动这些电器的大部分电力都来自磁力。

Magnetism is a force that's invisible. This force only pulls on some metals, such as iron. A magnet will not pull on copper or on wood either.

磁力是一种看不见的力量。 这种力量只会吸附部分金属，比如铁。 磁铁既不会吸附铜，也不会吸附木头。

Magnetism flows through a magnet. It goes in one end and out the other. These two ends are the north and south poles. The force flows out the north pole and back in the south pole.

磁力在磁铁内部流动。 它从一端进去，从另一端出来。 这两端就是北极和南极。 磁力从北极流出，再从南极流回去。

You can use two magnets to feel magnetism. The north pole of one magnet will attract the south pole of the other one. Now try to push the two north poles together. It isn't easy. Two north poles will always repel each other. So will two south poles.

你可以拿两块磁铁来感受磁力。 一块磁铁的北极会吸引另一块磁铁的南极。 现在试试把两块磁铁的北极凑到一起。 这可不容易哦。 两个北极总是会互相排斥。 两个南极也是一样。

Magnets everywhere. Magnets have many modern uses. One credit card can have millions of magnets. These magnets are tiny, no bigger than grains of powder. Each tiny magnet points in its own direction. The different directions of the magnets make a code. Computers read the code. Putting a credit card near a powerful magnet can mess up or erase the code.

无处不在的磁铁。 磁铁在现代生活中有很多用处。 一张信用卡里就有几百万个磁铁。 这些磁铁特别小，比粉粒还小。 每个小磁铁都有自己的指向。 磁铁不同的指向组成了密码。 电脑可以读取这个密码。 把信用卡放在强力磁铁旁边会打乱甚至清除这个密码。