Iron filings produce beautiful visualizations of magnetic fields. But when your students sprinkle them on magnets, it can easily end up in a mess that takes some time to clean up. Furthermore, iron filings do not show the orientation of the field ...

You often see this experiment done with needles. Please don’t do this with children, why take the risk? Use metallic paper clips instead – it is safer, the pointing better visible and the magnetizing effect even a bit stronger. In this activity, ...

Eddy currents are often demonstrated by slowing the movement of a metallic pendulum when passing a magnetic field. In case you have enough time to experiment with different materials, a pendulum is a good choice, because it lets you compare the time ...

In schoolbook pictures it is simple and clear: equal magnetic poles repel each other. And indeed they do, as long as you don't place a coin between them and feel the attracting force...

Materials that are attracted by a permanent magnet can extend the reach of the magnetic force.

It is said that Hans Christian Ørsted noted this effect rather by accident when preparing a lesson: an electric current passing through a wire deflects a compass needle. This apparently small discovery made it clear to him that electricity and magnetism are ...

Due to a 'convention' the magnetic pole on the northern hemisphere is called 'north', while in fact it (currently) is a magnetic south pole. Although this is rather confusing, and depicted wrongly in some school books and internet pages, it offers a ...