Class 6 Science Chapter 4 Exploring Magnets – easy notes, concepts, NCERT book solutions, important questions, worksheet and answers. Learn about magnets, magnetic and non-magnetic materials, poles of a magnet, attraction and repulsion, and the uses of magnets in simple language.
Chapter 4 – Exploring Magnets
Class 6 Science
Easy Notes • Concepts • Activities • Book Solutions
🌟 Chapter Introduction
Reshma lives in a coastal town of Kerala and loves writing short stories. She was writing a story about a ship carrying spices from Kerala for trade in olden days.
The sailors normally used stars to find directions at night. But in Reshma’s story, the sailors were caught in a storm and the sky was covered with clouds. They could not see the stars.
Reshma searched for information and learnt about a magnetic compass, a device used to find directions.
This made her curious to learn more about magnets and magnetic compasses.
📌 What are Magnets?
A magnet is a material or object that attracts certain materials, especially iron.
Naturally occurring magnets are called lodestones. Today, most magnets used in schools, toys, pencil boxes and other objects are artificial magnets.
4.1 Magnetic and Non-magnetic Materials
Activity 4.1: Let us explore
- Collect a few objects made of different materials and also a magnet.
- Predict which of the objects will stick to the magnet.
- Write your prediction in Table 4.1.
- Bring the magnet near the objects one by one.
- Observe which objects stick to the magnet.
Easy Concept
Materials that are attracted towards a magnet are called magnetic materials.
Iron, nickel and cobalt are examples of magnetic materials.
Materials that are not attracted towards a magnet are called non-magnetic materials.
| Name of the object | Material which the object is made of | Prediction | Observation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pencil | Wood | No | No |
| Eraser | Rubber | No | No |
| Iron object | Iron | Yes | Yes |
| Plastic object | Plastic | No | No |
| Glass object | Glass | No | No |
4.2 Poles of Magnet
Activity 4.2: Let us investigate
- Spread some iron filings on a sheet of paper.
- Place a bar magnet over them.
- Tap the paper gently.
- Observe where most of the iron filings stick.
- Most iron filings stick near the poles.
- A magnet always has two poles.
- A single North pole cannot exist.
- A single South pole cannot exist.
- Even if a magnet is broken, every piece has both North and South poles.
4.3 Finding Directions
Activity 4.3: Let us experiment
- Suspend a bar magnet with a thread tied to its middle.
- Make sure that the magnet is balanced horizontally.
- Rotate the magnet gently and allow it to come to rest.
- Mark the positions of its ends.
- Join the two points with a line.
- Rotate the magnet again and observe its position.
Why does a magnet point North-South?
The Earth itself behaves like a giant magnet. Therefore, a freely suspended magnet settles in the north-south direction.
Magnetic Compass
Activity 4.4: Let us construct
- Collect a cork piece, iron sewing needle, permanent bar magnet, glass bowl and water.
- Place the needle on a wooden table.
- Move one pole of the magnet over the needle in the same direction repeatedly.
- Repeat the process at least 30 to 40 times.
- Test the needle using iron filings or steel pins.
- If they are attracted, the needle has become a magnet.
- Pass the needle through a cork and float it in water.
- Allow it to come to rest.
- The magnetic compass is ready.
Much before the widespread use of the modern magnetic compass, Indians used a device called matsya-yantra or machchh-yantra for navigation at sea. It consisted of a magnetised fish-shaped iron piece kept in oil.
4.4 Attraction and Repulsion between Magnets
Activity 4.5: Let us experiment
- Take two bar magnets with their North and South poles marked.
- Call them A and B.
- Place magnet A over round pencils.
- Bring one end of magnet B near magnet A without touching it.
- Observe the movement.
- Bring the other end of magnet B near the same end of magnet A.
- Compare the observations.
Unlike poles attract each other.
North + South → Attraction
Like poles repel each other.
North + North → Repulsion
South + South → Repulsion
An iron bar is attracted by both poles of a magnet. Therefore, repulsion is a property that helps us identify a magnet.
Activity 4.6: Let us experiment
- Take a magnetic compass and a bar magnet.
- Allow the compass needle to come to rest.
- Bring the North pole of the bar magnet close to the North pole of the compass needle.
- Observe the deflection.
- Repeat using the South pole of the bar magnet.
Activity 4.7: Let us investigate
Suppose we place a piece of wood between the compass needle and the magnet. Will this affect the deflection of the compass needle?
Repeat the experiment using wood, cardboard, plastic and glass.
| S. no. | Material placed between the magnet and the compass needle | Observation |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Wood | No appreciable change |
| 2. | Cardboard | No appreciable change |
| 3. | Plastic | No appreciable change |
| 4. | Glass | No appreciable change |
4.5 Fun with Magnets
Magnets can be used for many fun activities.
- Make a magnetic garland.
- Move steel balls through a maze using a magnet below the tray.
- Pick up a steel paper clip from water using a magnet without getting the magnet wet.
- Make two matchbox-magnet cars and observe attraction or repulsion.
🧠 More to Know
In some magnets, the North and South poles are marked as N and S. Sometimes the North pole is indicated by a white dot. In some magnets, the North pole is painted red and the South pole blue.
⚠️ How to Keep Magnets Safe?
- Do not heat magnets.
- Do not drop magnets.
- Do not hammer magnets.
- Do not keep magnets near mobile phones or remote controls.
- Store magnets properly.
- Keep magnets in pairs with unlike poles on the same side.
- Keep a piece of wood between them.
- Place two pieces of soft iron across their ends.
📚 Chapter Summary
- A magnet has two poles—the North pole and the South pole.
- The poles of a magnet always exist in pairs.
- A single North pole or a single South pole cannot exist.
- Magnetic materials are materials that are attracted towards a magnet.
- Non-magnetic materials are materials that are not attracted towards a magnet.
- A freely suspended magnet rests along the north-south direction.
- The needle of a magnetic compass indicates the north-south direction.
- Like poles repel each other.
- Unlike poles attract each other.
- Repulsion can be used to identify a magnet.
- Magnetic effect can act through non-magnetic materials.
🔑 Important Keywords
Attraction Repulsion Magnetic materials Non-magnetic materials Bar magnet U-shaped magnet Ring magnet North pole South pole Magnetic compass Lodestone Predict Observe Experiment Investigate Construct Conclude📝 Let us enhance our learning
1. Fill in the blanks
(i) Unlike poles of two magnets each other, whereas like poles each other.
(ii) The materials that are attracted towards a magnet are called .
(iii) The needle of a magnetic compass rests along the direction.
(iv) A magnet always has poles.
(i) attract, repel
(ii) magnetic materials
(iii) north-south
(iv) two
2. State whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F).
(i) A magnet can be broken into pieces to obtain a single pole. [ ]
(ii) Similar poles of a magnet repel each other. [ ]
(iii) Iron filings mostly stick in the middle of a bar magnet when it is brought near them. [ ]
(iv) A freely suspended bar magnet always aligns with the north-south direction. [ ]
(i) False (F) — Each piece still has North and South poles.
(ii) True (T) — Like poles repel each other.
(iii) False (F) — Iron filings mostly stick near the poles.
(iv) True (T) — A freely suspended magnet aligns north-south.
3. Column I shows different positions in which one pole of a magnet is placed near that of the other. Column II indicates the resulting interaction between them for different situations. Fill in the blanks.
| Column I | Column II |
|---|---|
| N – N | ________ |
| S – N | ________ |
| ________ – S | Repulsion |
N – N → Repulsion
S – N → Attraction
N – S → Repulsion only when the like poles are shown; the given table is completed according to the pole arrangement.
4. Atharv performed an experiment in which he took a bar magnet and rolled it over a heap of steel U-clips (Fig. 4.15). According to you, which of the options given in Table 4.3 is likely to be his observation?
| Position | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| (i) | 10 | 2 | 10 |
| (ii) | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| (iii) | 2 | 10 | 10 |
| (iv) | 10 | 10 | 10 |
The poles of a magnet are at its ends. The middle attracts fewer magnetic materials, so the number at the middle should be smaller.
5. Reshma bought three identical metal bars from the market. Out of these bars, two were magnets and one was just a piece of iron. How will she identify which two amongst the three could be magnets (without using any other material)?
Bring the ends of the three bars near each other, one pair at a time. A magnet can show repulsion, while an ordinary iron bar will only be attracted by a magnet. The two bars that show repulsion with each other are the two magnets.
6. You are given a magnet which does not have the poles marked. How can you find its poles with the help of another magnet which has its poles marked?
Bring the known North pole near one end of the unmarked magnet. If the ends repel, that end is North. If they attract, that end is South. The other end will have the opposite pole.
7. A bar magnet has no markings to indicate its poles. How would you find out near which end its North pole is located without using another magnet?
Suspend the bar magnet freely with a thread. Allow it to come to rest. The end pointing towards the north direction is the North pole.
8. If the earth is itself a magnet, can you guess the poles of earth’s magnet by looking at the direction of the magnetic compass?
Yes. A compass needle’s North pole points towards the Earth’s geographic North. Therefore, the region near the Earth’s geographic North behaves like the South pole of Earth’s magnetic field, and the region near the geographic South behaves like the North pole.
9. While a mechanic was repairing a gadget using a screw driver, the steel screws kept falling down. Suggest a way to solve the problem of the mechanic on the basis of what you have learnt in this chapter.
The mechanic can magnetise the screwdriver. Then the magnetic screwdriver will attract and hold the steel screws.
10. Two ring magnets X and Y are arranged as shown in Fig. 4.16. It is observed that the magnet X does not move down further. What could be the possible reason? Suggest a way to bring the magnet X in contact with magnet Y, without pushing either of the magnets.
The like poles of the two ring magnets are facing each other, so they repel each other.
To bring X and Y together without pushing them, turn one of the magnets around so that unlike poles face each other. They will then attract each other.
11. Three magnets are arranged on a table in the form of the shape shown in Fig. 4.17. What is the polarity, N or S, at the ends 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 of the magnets? Polarity of one end (5) is given for you.
The polarity at each end is found using the rule that like poles repel and unlike poles attract.
Since end 5 is given as N, the end directly interacting with it must be determined as N for repulsion or S for attraction, and the remaining ends are opposite to their corresponding ends of the same magnet.
🔬 Learning Further
- Using 3–4 different magnets, try to lift steel pins or U-clips and check which magnet picks up the largest number of pins.
- Discuss with your friends why different magnets might have picked up different numbers of pins.
- Make a toy ‘Hopping Frog’ as a combined class activity with the help of your teacher.
- Find out about the Maglev Train and try to make its model.
- Try to find out why there is a need to make magnets of different shapes.
- Collect information related to the use of magnets in the field of medicine.
🐸 My Hopping Frog – Easy Idea
Ring magnets can be arranged with alternate North-South poles along a scale. A frog carrying another ring magnet can then move or hop when the plastic strip is moved.
🧲 Why Are Magnets Made in Different Shapes?
Magnets are made in different shapes according to their uses.
- Bar magnets: useful for experiments and simple devices.
- Ring magnets: useful where a hole is needed through the magnet.
- U-shaped magnets: useful when a strong magnetic field is needed between the poles.
- Disc magnets: useful in small devices and toys.
- Cylindrical magnets: useful in different machines and devices.
Whatever the shape, a magnet always has its poles in pairs.
⭐ Quick Revision
| Concept | Easy Remembering Point |
|---|---|
| Magnetic material | Attracted by a magnet |
| Non-magnetic material | Not attracted by a magnet |
| Poles | Every magnet has North and South poles |
| Like poles | Repel |
| Unlike poles | Attract |
| Freely suspended magnet | Rests North-South |
| Compass | Helps find directions |
| Repulsion | Useful for identifying a magnet |
| Magnetic effect | Can act through non-magnetic materials |
🎯 One-Minute Revision
- 🧲 A magnet attracts magnetic materials.
- 🧲 Iron, nickel and cobalt are magnetic materials.
- 🧲 Every magnet has two poles.
- 🧲 A single magnetic pole cannot exist.
- 🧲 Maximum attraction occurs near the poles.
- 🧲 A freely suspended magnet points North-South.
- 🧲 A magnetic compass helps us find directions.
- 🧲 Like poles repel.
- 🧲 Unlike poles attract.
- 🧲 Repulsion helps identify a magnet.
- 🧲 Magnetic force can act through materials such as wood, plastic, glass and cardboard.
Practice Class 6 Science Chapter 4 Looking for extra practice? Use the worksheet below to revise Chapter 4 with easy questions, extra practice questions and revision exercises.
Download Class 6 Science Chapter 4 WorksheetClass 6 Science Chapter 4, Exploring Magnets, Class 6 Science notes, Class 6 Science solutions, NCERT Class 6 Science Chapter 4, Class 6 Science worksheet, magnets, magnetic materials, non-magnetic materials, magnetic poles, attraction and repulsion, Class 6 Science questions and answers.