How do we use magnets?
Magnets are everywhere! You may not see or feel it, but nearly everything that works around you uses the magnetic field. When you close the refrigerator door, the way it sticks to the fridge is because of magnets. The microwave oven where you cook your popcorn, the electric fan you use to keep off the heat, even the computer – all use magnets to function!
Magnets are even present in devices we use to enjoy music. Without magnets, you wouldn’t be able to use your earphones or speakers. Magnets are also useful in medical equipment and electronics. Nearly all appliances that use motor engines use magnets to make them work. If you wrap a wire around an iron bar and run an electric current through that wire, you can make a magnet. This kind of magnet that turns off an on, an electromagnet, is used in electric motors.
The Earth is a huge magnet. Our planet has both North and South poles, which act within the Earth’s magnetic field. Similarly, all magnets have two poles: north and south. The magnetic fields are strongest at the poles, and the ends will point towards its poles. Try hanging a bar magnet in the air, and see how the north end of the magnet follows the direction towards the Earth’s North pole, and the south end of the magnet faces the South pole. This is why the compass that we use when hiking uses a magnet to show us the way. Many species of migratory birds, sea turtles, lobsters, monarch butterflies, and even bacteria can sense direction and navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field. The field provides a compass, allowing animals to move towards the north or south. The Earth’s magnetism can also be like a map to many organisms.
Name:______Class:______Date:______
1. How do you use magnets in your everyday life?
2. How do some animals use the Earth’s magnetic field?