Magnetic switch

Switch and drop!

Difficulty:
Danger:
Duration:
10 minutes

Safety

  • Carefully review the general safety advice on the back of the box cover before starting the experiment.
  • Read the "Magnets and electricity" section of the safety guidelines carefully before proceeding. Do not let children under 8 years old handle small magnets.
  • Disassemble the setup after the experiment.

Disposal

Dispose of solid waste together with household garbage.

Scientific description

Did you know that every magnet has two poles: north  and south ? When magnets face each other with their like poles, they repel one another. When magnets’ opposite poles are facing each other, they attract one another. Ferromagnetic materials , on the other hand, are always attracted to magnets. In a magnetic field , ferromagnetic materials become magnets, and their poles form in such a way that they are always attracted to the nearest magnet.

Let's see how the magnetic field turns on and off with the turn of a key! The magnetic switch from the set consists of magnets and ferromagnetic rods  arranged vertically on top of each other. When the magnets  are positioned so that their north poles are facing the same direction, their magnetic fields do not interact with each other, instead freely extending outside the switch and attracting nearby metal objects .But when you flip the switch, you flip the top magnet so that the north poles of the magnets now point in different directions, and their magnetic fields merge. This results in almost all the magnetic force concentrating inside the switch rather than extending beyond it. Therefore, in this position, the switch has almost no attractive power and cannot influence other objects.