BIRLA PUBLIC SCHOOL – DOHA – QATAR
SCIENCE
REFERENCE NOTES
EXPLORING MAGNETS
Q1. A pencil sharpener is attracted to both poles of a magnet although the sharpener’s
body is made of plastic. Identify the material which may be the reason for the above
phenomena that might have been used to make some part of the sharpener.
Ans1: Iron is used to make the blade in the sharpener due to which it is attracted towards
magnet. Iron is a magnetic material and is attracted to a magnet.
Q2. Where are poles of a bar magnet located?
Ans 2: Poles of a bar magnet (i.e. North and South poles) are located at the two extreme ends
of the bar magnet.
Q3. A bar magnet has no markings to indicate its poles. How would you find out near
which end is its north pole located?
Ans 3: For this, we need to take following steps:
Tie the bar magnet with a string and suspend it freely with a horizontal support.
Allow the magnet to come to rest.
The North facing end of the magnet is its North pole, and the South facing end is its
South pole
Reason: A freely suspended bar magnet always comes to rest in the North-South direction.
Q4.How to make an iron strip act as a magnet?
Ans4. Making a magnet: Take an iron strip and place it on the table. Now take a bar magnet and
place one of its poles near one edge of the strip of iron. Without lifting it, move it along the
length of the iron strip till you reach the other end. Now lift the magnet and bring the pole to the
same point of the strip from where you began. Repeat the same process for about 30-40 times.
Now you have made the iron strip to act as a magnet. To verify, bring some iron fillings near the
iron strip. The strip will attract the fillings just like a magnet.
Q5. How does a compass work and how can it be used to find direction?
Ans5. A compass consists of a magnetic needle with a dial marked with directions. The needle
of the compass always comes to rest along the North-South direction. The compass is then
rotated until the painted end (North Pole) of the needle is towards the N (North) mark on the dial
and the other end of needle is towards the S (South) mark on the dial. We can now find any
direction by looking at the dial of the compass.
Q6. In a magnet the magnetic force is maximum at which place on a magnet?
Ans. Magnetic force is maximum at the poles.
Q7. Write the main properties of a Magnet.
Ans
(i) A magnet always has two poles i.e. North Pole and South Pole.
(ii) Poles of a magnet can never be isolated
(iii) Like poles repel and unlike poles attract.
(iv) A freely suspended magnet always gets aligned to the North-South direction.
Q8. Mention any three methods by which a magnet can be demagnetized.
Ans.
(i) By hammering the magnet strongly.
(ii) By heating a magnet strongly and keeping it in the east-west direction.
(iii) By dropping the magnet from a height
Q9. Why is it advised to keep magnets away from mobiles, television, computers and
CDs?
Ans. It is advised to keep magnets away from these devices because the devices are made up
of magnetic material and magnets are also used in some of these. When we bring magnets
near them, it can spoil these devices.
HOTS
Q11. Few iron nails and screws got mixed with the wooden shavings while a carpenter
was working with them. Suggest the best way for him to get the nails and screws back
from the scrap without wasting his time and searching with his hands.
Ans. By using a magnet we can attract all the iron nails and screws and can separate them from
wooden shavings. This is possible since the screws and iron nails are magnetic materials,
whereas wood is a non-magnetic material.
Q12. You have two rods one of which is an iron rod and the other is a magnet. How will
you differentiate these rods?
Ans. Suspend both the rods freely with help of a thread. Now bring one end of a bar magnet
close to both the ends of the suspended rod. If it shows attraction at both the ends then it is an
iron rod. If it shows attraction at one end and repulsion at the other end, then it is a bar magnet.
Q13. Rahul and his friends were decorating the class bulletin board. They dropped the box
of stainless-steel pins by mistake. They tried to collect the pins using a magnet but could not
succeed. What could be the reason for this?
Ans: Stainless steel doesn’t get attracted by a magnet.
