⚛️ Physics · Topic 4 of 10
Start with the study notes on Magnets & Magnetism (definitions, examples and a quick revision), then work through 60 practice questions, each with the correct answer and a clear explanation of why it is right. When you are ready, take this topic as an interactive quiz to test yourself.
Topic overview
A magnet is an object that attracts certain materials, such as iron, without touching them.
Example: An old story says a shepherd called Magnes found the iron nails in his shoes sticking to a rock. The word “magnet” is said to come from his name, or from the place, Magnesia.
Magnetic materials are attracted by a magnet: mainly iron, nickel and cobalt, and alloys such as steel that contain iron. Non-magnetic materials are not attracted.
Examples:
Remember: Magnets do not attract all metals.
Every magnet has two poles: a north pole (N) and a south pole (S). The magnetic force is strongest at the poles and weakest in the middle.
Example: Dip a bar magnet in iron filings, and most of the filings cling to its two ends.
Example: If two magnets cling tightly end to end, the touching ends are unlike poles.
If you break a magnet, each piece becomes a complete smaller magnet, with its own north and south pole. A single pole on its own does not exist.
A bar magnet hung freely always comes to rest pointing north–south. The end that points north is its north-seeking (north) pole.
This happens because the Earth itself behaves like a giant magnet.
A compass has a small magnetic needle balanced so it can turn freely. Its north end always points north, so it shows direction anywhere, even at night or in fog.
Examples:
Remember: Keep a compass away from iron objects and other magnets. They pull the needle off its north–south line.
Magnetic force is a non-contact force: it acts across a gap, and it passes through thin non-magnetic materials, such as paper, cloth or plastic. It gets weaker as the distance increases.
The space around a magnet where its force can be felt is its magnetic field.
Examples:
A magnet attracts both another magnet and plain iron, so attraction does not prove that something is a magnet.
Only a magnet can repel another magnet. Repulsion is the sure test.
Example: Bring one pole of a magnet near each end of an unknown bar. If one end is pushed away, the bar is a magnet.
Stroke an iron bar or nail many times, from one end to the other, with one pole of a magnet. Always stroke in the same direction, lifting the magnet away between strokes.
Example: Pins hanging in a chain from a magnet: each pin becomes a temporary magnet (magnetic induction), and the chain falls apart when the magnet is removed.
Examples:
| Misconception | Correct understanding |
|---|---|
| Magnets attract all metals. | Only iron, nickel, cobalt and their alloys, such as steel, are attracted. |
| Attraction proves an object is a magnet. | Plain iron is attracted too; only repulsion proves both objects are magnets. |
| A broken magnet has lost one of its poles. | Each piece is a complete magnet, with a north and a south pole. |
| Magnetism needs contact. | It is a non-contact force that acts across a gap, even through paper or cloth. |
| A magnet is strongest in the middle. | It is strongest at its poles. |
Name three magnetic metals.
Iron, nickel and cobalt.
Where is a bar magnet's pull strongest?
At its two poles (ends).
What happens when two north poles are brought together?
They repel each other.
Why does a freely hanging magnet point north–south?
Because the Earth behaves like a giant magnet.
What is the surest test for a magnet?
Repulsion, because only two magnets can repel each other.
What happens if you break a bar magnet in two?
You get two smaller magnets, each with a north and a south pole.
Name two things that weaken a magnet.
Heating it, hammering it or dropping it repeatedly.
Key takeaway: Like poles repel, unlike poles attract, and a free magnet always points north–south. That is the idea behind the compass.
Notes written by Velnov for Class 6–8 students, following the topics of the NCERT science syllabus.
Q1. easy
A magnet attracts materials made of:
Answer: A — Iron, nickel and cobalt
Magnets attract magnetic materials - mainly iron, nickel and cobalt. Materials like wood, plastic, paper, rubber and glass are non-magnetic and are not attracted.
Q3. easy
How many poles does a magnet have?
Answer: A — Two
Every magnet has two poles - a North pole and a South pole. Even if you break a magnet into pieces, each piece still has both a North and a South pole.
Q57. easy
Which of these is a magnetic material?
Answer: A — Iron
Iron is a magnetic material, attracted by magnets. Plastic, wood and rubber are non-magnetic and are not attracted.
Q2. medium
Materials that are attracted by a magnet are called:
Answer: A — Magnetic materials
Magnetic materials (like iron, nickel, cobalt) are attracted by magnets. Non-magnetic materials (like wood, plastic, aluminium) are not.
Q4. medium
The two poles of a magnet are called:
Answer: A — North pole and South pole
A magnet's poles are the North pole (N) and the South pole (S). The magnetic force is strongest at the poles.
Q5. medium
The magnetic force (attraction) of a magnet is STRONGEST at its:
Answer: A — Poles (ends)
A magnet's pulling power is greatest at its two poles (ends) and weakest at the middle. If you dip a magnet in iron filings, most cling to the poles.
Q8. medium
A freely suspended magnet always comes to rest pointing in which direction?
Answer: A — North-South direction
A freely hanging (or floating) bar magnet always aligns itself in the North-South direction. This property is used in the magnetic compass to find directions.
Q10. medium
A device that uses a small magnetic needle to show direction is a:
Answer: A — Compass
A magnetic compass has a tiny magnetic needle that is free to rotate. It always points North-South, helping travellers, sailors and hikers find directions.
Q12. medium
Magnets that occur in nature (a naturally magnetic rock) are made of an ore called:
Answer: A — Magnetite (lodestone)
Natural magnets are pieces of the iron ore magnetite, also called 'lodestone'. Ancient people discovered that lodestone could attract iron - the first known magnets.
Q14. medium
Magnets made by humans (in shapes like bars, horseshoes and rings) are called:
Answer: A — Artificial (man-made) magnets
Artificial magnets are made by humans in useful shapes (bar magnet, horseshoe magnet, ring magnet, cylindrical magnet). Natural magnets (lodestone) occur in nature.
Q15. medium
Which of these is a common shape of an artificial magnet?
Answer: A — Bar magnet / horseshoe magnet
Artificial magnets come in shapes such as the bar magnet, horseshoe (U-shaped) magnet, ring magnet, cylindrical magnet and disc magnet.
Q17. medium
Which of the following will a magnet NOT attract?
Answer: A — A plastic spoon
A magnet does not attract non-magnetic materials like plastic. It attracts iron, steel (which contains iron), nickel and cobalt.
Q20. medium
To keep a pair of bar magnets strong, they should be stored:
Answer: A — In pairs with unlike poles together, separated by wooden spacers, and iron 'keepers' across the ends
Bar magnets are stored in pairs with unlike poles next to each other and soft-iron pieces (keepers) placed across their ends. This preserves their magnetism. Rough handling weakens them.
Q21. medium
The region around a magnet where its force can be felt is called the:
Answer: A — Magnetic field
The magnetic field is the space around a magnet where its magnetic force acts on other magnets or magnetic materials. It can be shown using iron filings or a compass.
Q23. medium
The Earth itself behaves like a giant:
Answer: A — Magnet
The Earth acts like a huge magnet, which is why a freely suspended magnet or compass needle points North-South. This is the basis of the compass.
Q25. medium
Which of these devices uses magnets?
Answer: A — A refrigerator door, electric bells, and speakers
Magnets are used in many devices - refrigerator door seals, electric bells, loudspeakers, electric motors, cranes lifting scrap iron, and many toys.
Q27. medium
Repulsion is considered the surest test for a magnet because:
Answer: A — Only two magnets can repel each other; a magnet and a magnetic material only attract
Attraction can occur between a magnet and any magnetic material, so it does not prove both are magnets. But repulsion happens only between two magnets, making it the definitive test.
Q29. medium
Which materials are the main MAGNETIC metals?
Answer: A — Iron, cobalt and nickel
The three common strongly magnetic metals are iron, cobalt and nickel. Metals like copper, gold, silver and aluminium are non-magnetic (not attracted by ordinary magnets).
Q31. medium
The magnetic force of a magnet acts:
Answer: A — Even without touching (from a distance)
Magnetic force is a non-contact force - a magnet can attract or repel from a distance, without touching the object. Its strength decreases as the distance increases.
Q33. medium
Sailors and travellers long ago used a floating magnet in water as an early:
Answer: A — Compass (to find directions)
Early navigators floated a lodestone (natural magnet) on a piece of wood/cork in water; it turned to point North-South, acting as a primitive compass to guide their journeys.
Q35. medium
Which of the following is a correct statement about magnets?
Answer: A — Every magnet has two poles that cannot be separated
Every magnet has a North and a South pole; you cannot get a single isolated pole (breaking a magnet just makes smaller two-pole magnets). Magnets attract only magnetic materials, not everything.
Q37. medium
An iron nail becomes a temporary magnet and can pick up small pins when it is:
Answer: A — Touched to / placed near a strong magnet
When an iron nail touches or lies near a strong magnet, it becomes a temporary magnet (magnetic induction) and can pick up pins. It loses this magnetism once removed from the magnet.
Q39. medium
Which pair of poles will ATTRACT each other?
Answer: A — North pole and South pole
Unlike poles attract: a North pole attracts a South pole. Like poles (N-N or S-S) repel each other.
Q41. medium
A bar magnet is dipped in a heap of iron filings. Where will MOST filings stick?
Answer: A — At the two ends (poles)
The magnetic force is strongest at the poles (ends), so most iron filings cling there, while very few stick near the middle, where the field is weakest.
Q43. medium
Which of the following is a use of magnets in everyday life?
Answer: A — Holding notes on a refrigerator, in pencil boxes, and in door catches
Small magnets are used to stick notes on refrigerators, in magnetic pencil-box lids, cupboard door catches, toys, and to hold pins. Magnets are common in daily life.
Q45. medium
Which statement is FALSE about magnets?
Answer: A — Magnets attract all metals
Magnets do NOT attract all metals - only iron, nickel and cobalt (and their alloys like steel). Copper, aluminium, gold and silver are metals but are not attracted. The other statements are all true.
Q47. medium
A horseshoe (U-shaped) magnet is often stronger than a bar magnet of the same size because:
Answer: A — Its two poles are close together, concentrating the magnetic force
The U-shape brings both poles close together and facing the same way, concentrating the magnetic force in one area and making a horseshoe magnet effective at picking up objects.
Q49. medium
Iron filings are used in experiments with magnets because they:
Answer: A — Are magnetic and reveal the pattern of the magnetic field
Iron filings are small magnetic particles. When sprinkled around a magnet, they align along the field lines, making the invisible magnetic field pattern visible.
Q51. medium
The safest way to CARRY a magnetic compass is to keep it away from:
Answer: A — Iron objects and other magnets (which can disturb the needle)
Iron objects and other magnets can pull the compass needle away from its true North-South direction, giving a wrong reading. So a compass should be used away from such objects.
Q53. medium
Which statement about breaking a magnet is TRUE?
Answer: A — Each broken piece is a smaller magnet with both a North and South pole
You cannot isolate a single pole. Breaking a magnet gives two smaller magnets, each complete with its own North and South pole.
Q55. medium
Which of these would a magnet pick up from a mixture of sand and iron filings?
Answer: A — The iron filings (leaving the sand behind)
A magnet attracts only the magnetic iron filings, separating them from the non-magnetic sand. This magnetic separation is used to remove or recover iron from mixtures.
Q58. medium
The magnetic force is a 'non-contact' force. This means it can act:
Answer: A — Without the magnet touching the object
Magnetic force acts at a distance - a magnet can attract or repel without touching. This makes it a non-contact force, like gravity and static electric force.
Q60. medium
Which statement is TRUE about a freely suspended bar magnet?
Answer: A — It always comes to rest in the North-South direction
A freely suspended bar magnet always settles pointing North-South, because it aligns with the Earth's magnetic field. This directive property is the basis of the compass.
Q6. hard
When two magnets are brought close, LIKE poles (N-N or S-S):
Answer: A — Repel (push away) each other
Like poles repel: North repels North, and South repels South. Unlike poles (North and South) attract each other. This is a fundamental rule of magnetism.
Q7. hard
When two magnets are brought close, UNLIKE poles (N-S):
Answer: A — Attract each other
Unlike poles attract: the North pole of one magnet attracts the South pole of another. Like poles (N-N, S-S) repel.
Q9. hard
The end of a freely suspended magnet that points toward the geographic North is called its:
Answer: A — North-seeking pole (North pole)
The pole of a magnet that points toward the Earth's geographic North is called the North-seeking pole (North pole, N). The other end is the South pole.
Q11. hard
The needle of a magnetic compass is a:
Answer: A — Small magnet that can rotate freely
A compass needle is a small, light magnet balanced on a pivot so it can turn freely. It aligns with the Earth's magnetism to point North-South.
Q13. hard
According to legend, magnets were discovered by a shepherd named Magnes in a place called Magnesia. The word 'magnet' comes from:
Answer: A — Magnesia / Magnes (the place/name)
The story goes that a shepherd named Magnes found that the nails of his shoes and the tip of his stick stuck to a rock in a region called Magnesia. The word 'magnet' comes from this.
Q16. hard
If you cut a bar magnet into two pieces, each piece will:
Answer: A — Become a complete magnet with its own North and South poles
You cannot separate the poles of a magnet. Cutting it makes two smaller magnets, each with its own North and South pole. A single (isolated) pole cannot exist.
Q18. hard
One way to make a magnet from an iron bar is by:
Answer: A — Stroking it repeatedly in one direction with one pole of a bar magnet
The 'single-touch' method makes a magnet: stroke an iron bar many times in the SAME direction with one pole of a magnet (lifting the magnet away and back each time). The iron bar becomes magnetised.
Q19. hard
Which action can DESTROY or weaken the magnetism of a magnet?
Answer: A — Heating it, hammering it, or dropping it repeatedly
Magnets lose their magnetism if they are heated strongly, hammered, or dropped repeatedly, because this disturbs the arrangement of their tiny internal magnets. Careful storage keeps them strong.
Q22. hard
When you sprinkle iron filings around a bar magnet on paper, they arrange themselves into curved lines called:
Answer: A — Magnetic field lines
Iron filings around a magnet line up along magnetic field lines, showing the pattern of the field. The lines are closest together (densest) near the poles, where the field is strongest.
Q24. hard
A magnetic compass works because:
Answer: A — Its magnetic needle aligns with the Earth's magnetic field to point North-South
The compass needle is a tiny magnet that responds to the Earth's magnetism, always settling in the North-South direction. This lets people find directions anywhere.
Q26. hard
How can you test whether a metal bar is a magnet or just a magnetic material (like plain iron)?
Answer: A — Check if it can REPEL another magnet (only a magnet can repel; both attract)
Both a magnet and a piece of iron will be ATTRACTED by a magnet. But only a magnet can also REPEL another magnet. So repulsion is the sure test of whether something is a magnet.
Q28. hard
A material that can be temporarily magnetised only while near a magnet is:
Answer: A — Soft iron
Soft iron becomes a magnet when near a magnet but loses most of its magnetism when the magnet is removed (a temporary magnet). Steel keeps its magnetism (a permanent magnet). This is used in electromagnets.
Q30. hard
A magnet can attract iron objects through a thin sheet of:
Answer: A — Paper, plastic or cloth (non-magnetic materials)
Magnetic force can pass through non-magnetic materials like paper, plastic, cloth and glass. That is why a magnet can move an iron object placed on the other side of a sheet of paper.
Q32. hard
As you move an iron object FARTHER from a magnet, the magnetic force on it:
Answer: A — Decreases (becomes weaker)
The magnetic force gets weaker as the distance between the magnet and the object increases, and stronger as they come closer. Beyond a certain distance, the pull becomes too weak to feel.
Q34. hard
A magnetic compass card is usually marked with how many main directions?
Answer: A — Four (North, South, East, West)
A compass shows the four main directions - North, South, East and West - and often the four in-between directions (NE, NW, SE, SW). The needle's North end always points North.
Q36. hard
Why should magnets be kept AWAY from mobile phones, computers and CDs/cassettes?
Answer: A — Strong magnets can damage the stored data / affect electronic devices
Strong magnets can erase or corrupt magnetically stored data (in older cassettes, floppy disks, hard drives, credit cards) and interfere with sensitive electronics, so magnets should be kept away from them.
Q38. hard
A large electromagnet on a crane is used in scrap yards to lift heavy iron objects. Its advantage over a permanent magnet is that:
Answer: A — It can be switched ON to pick up and OFF to release the load
An electromagnet becomes magnetic only when current flows. Switching it ON lets it lift iron; switching it OFF drops the load - very useful for moving scrap iron, which a permanent magnet could not release easily.
Q40. hard
If the North pole of one magnet strongly PUSHES AWAY one end of another magnet, that end must be a:
Answer: A — North pole (like poles repel)
Repulsion occurs only between like poles. If a North pole pushes away an end, that end must also be a North pole (N repels N).
Q42. hard
Which statement about the Earth's magnetism is correct?
Answer: A — The Earth's geographic North is near its magnetic South pole (which is why a compass North points there)
The Earth behaves like a bar magnet whose magnetic South pole lies near the geographic North. Since unlike poles attract, a compass's North-seeking pole is drawn toward the geographic North. (For everyday purposes we simply say the compass points North.)
Q44. hard
A steel needle can be turned into a magnet and used as a compass. Compared to soft iron, steel is used because it:
Answer: A — Retains its magnetism (becomes a permanent magnet)
Steel keeps its magnetism after being magnetised (a permanent magnet), making it suitable for a compass needle. Soft iron loses its magnetism quickly, so it is used for temporary magnets like electromagnets.
Q46. hard
Two identical bar magnets are placed end to end and they cling tightly. The touching ends must be:
Answer: A — Unlike poles (North of one to South of the other)
If the ends attract and cling, they must be unlike poles (N-S). Like poles would repel and push apart.
Q48. hard
Which everyday object works using the interaction between magnets and electric current?
Answer: A — An electric motor (in fans, mixers) and a loudspeaker
Electric motors and loudspeakers rely on the interaction between magnets and electric currents to produce motion or sound. This link between electricity and magnetism is very important in modern technology.
Q50. hard
Which of these correctly describes a NON-magnetic material?
Answer: A — It is not attracted by a magnet (e.g., plastic, wood, aluminium, copper)
Non-magnetic materials such as plastic, wood, rubber, aluminium and copper are not attracted by a magnet. Only iron, nickel, cobalt and their alloys are magnetic.
Q52. hard
If you keep a magnet near a working compass, the compass needle will:
Answer: A — Deflect (move) away from the North-South direction
The compass needle responds to the stronger nearby magnet and swings away from North-South. This shows that magnets exert force on each other and can disturb a compass.
Q54. hard
Which is the correct overall summary of magnet behaviour?
Answer: A — Like poles repel, unlike poles attract, and a free magnet points North-South
The key facts of magnetism: like poles repel; unlike poles attract; the force is strongest at the poles; and a freely suspended magnet aligns North-South (the basis of the compass).
Q56. hard
Which of the following best explains why a compass is so useful for travellers?
Answer: A — It reliably shows direction anywhere on Earth, day or night, without landmarks
Because the Earth is a magnet, a compass always points North-South. This lets travellers, sailors and pilots find their way even without visible landmarks, in fog, or at sea.
Q59. hard
A magnet is brought near a pile of pins. The pins that stick to one pin (which sticks to the magnet) show that:
Answer: A — Magnetism has been induced in the pins (they became temporary magnets)
Magnetic induction makes each pin a temporary magnet while near the magnet, so it can attract the next pin. This forms a chain of pins. They fall apart once the magnet is removed.