CLASS 6 SCIENCE · CHAPTER 4 · STUDY NOTES
Exploring Magnets
Use evidence to understand magnetic materials, poles, compasses and forces without contact.
01 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
A magnet does not attract everything
Start with the material, not the colour or shine of the object.
1. Predict, then test
An iron nail can be attracted, while a wooden stick, plastic ruler or rubber eraser is not. Keep the prediction separate from the observation: a guess is not a result.
2. Not every metal behaves like iron
Iron, nickel and cobalt are magnetic materials. Many other metals are not attracted strongly by an ordinary magnet. Some objects contain more than one material, so identify which part is attracted.
Your turn
Question
A pencil sticks to a magnet only near its metal end. What should you investigate before calling wood magnetic?
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02 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
Different shapes, the same two-pole idea
Bar, U-shaped and ring magnets are designed for different uses. Shape does not remove their poles.
Compare bar, U and ring shapes
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1. Look for the markings
N and S mark the poles on many classroom magnets. Red and blue are often used, but colour conventions can vary. Read the markings rather than guessing from colour alone.
2. A smaller piece is still two-pole
Breaking a bar magnet does not separate north from south. Each smaller magnet has a north and a south pole. This is a model to understand, not an instruction to break a magnet.
Your turn
Question
A drawing shows a broken magnet with “N only” on one half. What is missing?
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03 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
Where is the attraction strongest?
Compare different places on the same bar magnet.
Notice where the filings gather
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1. Notice the clusters
In the book activity, more iron filings collect near the ends of a bar magnet than near its middle. The clustering gives evidence about where the attraction is stronger.
2. Compare fairly
Use the same kind of small iron object and similar conditions when comparing positions. A larger heap at one end is not automatically a fair test if you started with many more filings there.
Your turn
Question
Why should you not compare ten clips near one end with just one clip near the middle?
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04 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
A freely turning magnet helps find direction
A magnet must be free to turn before it can settle along the north–south direction.
1. Let it settle
Suspend a balanced bar magnet horizontally with teacher help. Gently turn it and let it settle several times. Away from nearby magnets and iron objects, it returns to approximately the same north–south line.
2. Earth provides the reason
Earth behaves like a giant magnet. A freely turning magnet responds to Earth’s magnetic effect. An ordinary unmagnetised iron bar does not reliably return to this direction just because it is iron.
Your turn
Question
Why could a magnet tied tightly against a board fail to show north–south?
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05 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
Read the needle before the dial
A compass contains a small magnet that can rotate. Its dial alone does not find north.
The needle keeps its direction while the dial turns
Turn the dial, then bring its N back to the red north-seeking tip.
1. Align the dial with the settled needle
Keep the compass level and away from other magnets. Wait for the needle to settle. Gently turn the box so the dial’s north mark lines up with the needle’s north-seeking end; then read the other directions.
2. Nearby magnets can change the reading
A bar magnet brought near a compass can turn its needle. This demonstrates magnetic interaction; it is not evidence that geographic north has moved. Remove the interference before using the compass for direction.
Your turn
Question
A compass needle turns when a magnet approaches. Has north changed location?
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06 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
Make a needle magnetic: what changes?
The chapter describes a teacher-guided way to magnetise a needle and let it turn on water.
Stroke in one direction, then lift
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Support it without locking its direction
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1. Use the same pole and direction
In the book demonstration, one pole is stroked along a suitable needle in one direction. The magnet is lifted before returning to the start. Repeated strokes can magnetise the needle; rubbing back and forth is not the method described.
2. Allow the needle to rotate
A teacher places the needle horizontally through a cork so it stays above water. The floating support allows it to turn. The needle is sharp: this is not a solo activity. Check its settled direction repeatedly, away from other magnets.
Your turn
Question
Why is a floating support useful in this demonstration?
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07 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
Like poles repel; unlike poles attract
Name the two facing poles before predicting motion.
Watch the facing poles
1. Read the facing ends
N facing S attracts. N facing N repels, and S facing S repels. Turning one magnet around changes which pole faces the other, so it can change the interaction.
2. Attraction alone is not enough
An unmagnetised iron bar can be attracted to either pole of a magnet. In the classroom comparison of magnets and iron bars, repulsion from a known pole is stronger evidence that the other object is itself a magnet.
Your turn
Question
An unknown iron bar is attracted by a known north pole. Must its near end be south?
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08 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
Magnetic action can cross a thin barrier
A magnet can affect an object without touching it.
The wood is between the two magnets
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1. Keep the positions the same
The chapter places thin wood, cardboard, plastic or glass between a magnet and compass without changing their positions. Little change in the needle’s deflection shows that these thin non-magnetic barriers do not block the effect in that setup.
2. Do not confuse a barrier with distance
Adding a thick object may force the magnet farther away. If the effect weakens, the extra distance matters. A classroom model with a magnet below cardboard and a steel object above it shows action through the barrier.
Your turn
Question
A learner adds a thick book and also moves the magnet farther away. Is this a fair test of the book material alone?
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09 / EXPLORE & UNDERSTAND
Useful magnets need careful handling
Magnetic catches, holders and toys use the same basic interactions.
Keepers connect the ends
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1. Choose a use that matches the material
A magnetic tool can hold a suitable steel screw. A magnet cannot pick up every lost object: the material matters. In a magnet toy, the facing poles determine attraction or repulsion.
2. Store and handle classroom magnets properly
The book shows bar magnets stored in pairs with unlike poles together at each end, a wooden separator, and soft-iron keepers across the ends. Avoid heating, hammering or dropping them. Keep small magnets away from the mouth and away from devices that magnets could affect.
Your turn
Question
Why might a magnetic pickup tool fail to lift a wooden bead?
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Sign inNew here? Sign up freeCHAPTER RECAP
Take these ideas with you
- An ordinary magnet attracts suitable materials, not every metal or every object.
- A bar magnet has north and south poles; smaller pieces also have both.
- A freely turning magnet aligns roughly north–south away from interference.
- Like poles repel; unlike poles attract.
- Attraction alone does not distinguish a magnet from unmagnetised iron.
- Thin non-magnetic barriers need not block the effect; keep distance controlled in a fair test.
Use your understanding in a new situation
Question
You reverse one of two facing bar magnets. The first arrangement attracts. Predict the second interaction and explain.
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Sign inNew here? Sign up freeQuestion
A compass works on a wooden table but turns oddly beside a magnetic pencil box. What should you change first?
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Sign inNew here? Sign up freeNCERT · Chapter source PDF, pages 1, 2, 11, 12, 13 · Original Learnijoy explanations and practice.