If you have 2 pieces of metal and one is a magnet, how can you tell which one is a magnet?

Question

ALL YOU HAVE ARE THESE 2 PIECES OF METAL. SO HOW DO YOU TELL WHICH ONE IS THE MAGNET??

Answer 1

By discovering which one attracts a known non-magnet such as an iron nail or other similar item.

Or... by suspending each object by a fine string and observing which object orients itself to to the Earth's north and south magnetic poles. The non-magnetic piece of metal won't change it's position.

Keep in mind, every magnet has two poles. This is where most of its magnetic strength is most powerful. These poles are called north and south or north-seeking and south seeking poles. The poles are called this as when a magnet is hung or suspended the magnet lines up in a north - south direction. When the north pole of one magnet is placed near the north pole of another magnet, the poles are repelled. When the south poles of two magnets are placed near one another, they also are repelled from one another. When the north and south poles of two magnets are placed near one another, they are attracted to one another.

The attraction repelling of two magnets towards one another depends on how close they are to each other and how strong the magnetic force is within the magnet. The further apart of the magnets are the less they are attracted or repelled to one another.

When a magnet is broken into little pieces, a north pole will appear at one of the broken faces and a south pole. Each piece, regardless of how big or small, has its own north and south poles. The are around a magnet can also behave like a magnet. This is called a magnetic field. The larger the magnet and the closer the object to the magnet, the greater the force of the magnetic field.

Answer 2

You have a couple of ways to tell. One is to touch the middle of each piece with one end of the other. The attracting effect will normally be stronger at the ends of the magnet.

Several conditions can make this test fail though. If the magnet is irregular in shape or is magnetized in a nonstandard orientation; e.g., the magnetic poles are along the short sides of a bar magnet rather than at the ends, it may be difficult to identify which is the "middle" and where the magnetized ends are.

Certain shapes, such as toroids or doughnut shapes, can be magnetized in a way that produces little or no external magnetic field. The cores of electrical inductors and transformers are often deliberately shaped to produce little or no external magnetic field; such fields represent a loss in efficiency and can cause electrical interference with other components.

It is also possible that the nonmagnet is of a material that a magnet would not attract; nothing in this problem says otherwise.

A somewhat more reliable way of checking for magnetism would be to suspend the magnet in a magnetic field with a piece of thread and looking for a preferred orientation of the magnet. This is how magnetic compases work. The earth's magnetic field will do for this purpose but a generated DC field would make for a more sensitive test.

However, this may result in a false positive because the nonmagnet (assuming that it is made of a suitable material) will be temporarily magnetized by the external field and, again if made of a suitable material, will become magnetized if it weren't already. I have seen cases where even the earth's magnetic field had magnetized iron objects whose position had not been disturbed for a long time. Also, if the shape of the nonmagnetic metal is long and thin enough, even a nonmagnet will tend to orient with its long dimension along the field but, unlike a magnet, the nonmagnet will show no preference about which end points toward which pole of the external magnetic field. This external magnetic field will also be unable to detect a piece of metal magnetized so that it produces no external magnetic field.

Answer 3

Find another piece of metal that you KNOW isn't a magnet, put it near the two. The piece of metal that attaches to the new one is the magnet.

Answer 4

Assuming they are long pieces of metal, you could suspend one by a piece of string tied round the middle. If it moves to orient itself along the north-south direction it's the magnet, if it doesn't it isn't.

Answer 5

The magnet is the one shaped like a horseshoe, dont you ever watch cartoons?

Answer 6

Bite them, if you have fillings the magnet will hurt more.

Answer 7

themagnatize peice will stick to the refrigerator door..isn't that cool?

Answer 8

LOL Bite them