Materials

2 magnets each, 1/2 inch diameter and .2 inch thick

Table or desk with metal legs 

Procedure

Take two magnets and find weird things that the magnets can do such as:

a. Put your two magnets on a table and get them close to each other.

b. Put one magnet under the table and move it underneath the second one that you put on top of the table.

c. Try to roll your magnets in a straight line from south to north and then from east to west.

d. Put one magnet on each side of a finger.

e. Put your magnet on a metal leg of your desk and let it slide down.

f. Then wander around to find 3 things that attract the magnets and then 3 things that don't attract the magnets.

Observations

a. One magnet can invisibly push another across the desk.

b. One magnet under the desk can move the other on top.

c. The magnet shows more instability if you roll it east to west and north to south. 

d. The magnets can hold themselves up on each side of a finger.

e. The magnet spirals down the leg of the desk.

f. Magnets will strongly attract ferromagnetic materials, weakly attract paramagnetic materials, and weakly repel diamagnetic materials.

Ferromagnetic materials are iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and gadolinium (Gd). 

Paramagnetic materials are metals that are weakly attracted to magnets. Aluminum and copper are such metals. 

Certain materials are diamagnetic, which means that when they are exposed to a strong magnetic field, they induce a weak magnetic field in the opposite direction. In other words, they weakly repel a strong magnet. Bismuth and carbon graphite are the strongest diamagnetic materials. They are about eight times stronger than mercury and silver. Other weaker diamagnetic materials include water, diamonds, wood and living tissue. 

Explanation

No one really knows why two magnets stick together. It’s like a father and son playing baseball. The baseball that they are throwing back and forth is a “packet of energy”. The magnets are exchanging ‘Energy packets,’ and that keeps them together. If the father and the son get too far apart then they won’t be able to play together anymore. The same applies to magnets. 

There are naturally occurring magnets and manufactured magnets. All magnets contain two opposite poles (North and South like our planet earth). The north pole of a magnet wants to seek the north pole of the earth. That explains why it is easier to roll the magnet in a straight line from south to north versus from east to west.

Like poles repel and opposite poles attract. These forces are called attraction and repulsion. A magnetic field surrounds every magnet, creating a distinctive pattern around and between its poles. This explains how one magnet can push the other one. Some materials can take on the properties of a magnet temporarily. Some materials are magnetic; these are attracted to magnets. That explains why the magnet spirals down the leg of the table