How can you tell the North end of a magnet from the South end, without looking at the N or S on the tips?

Question

My daughter asked this on our walk today, and I have no clue

Answer 1

I agree that the Earth's North pole is actually a "South", but it has been weakening of late. I heard that we are very near to a "magnetic reversal" which will then set the Earth's magnetic field straight.

Answer 2

Hang it from a string or put it on a floating cork so that it is free to spin. The earth's magnetic field will rotate the magnet so that its north pole points in a northerly direction. That's the only way to do it without another marked magnet.

Extra credit: this shows us that the earth's north magnetic pole is _really_ a south pole, because it grabs the north poles of all the magnets on earth. The best explanation for this is that the earth is a special case.

Answer 3

If you have access to a navigational compass the needle on the compass (the end of the needle pointing north) will be attracted to the south pole of the magnet and repelled by the north pole of the magnet.

Answer 4

tie the magnet in the middle with a string. then tack the string to the ceiling which ever end points north is the south side of the magnet.
Honestly, I don't know if that would work, but that's the basic premise behind a compass lol

EDIT: 2n2222's sounds more correct :)