Question

Suspend the bar magnet freely with the help of a thread tied around its center as shown in figure.

i) Does the magnet remain stationary?

ii) Wait for some time. What do you find now?

iii) Where does the colored portion come to rest?

iv) Repeat this experiment at another place. What do you observe?

Answer 1

i) After some time it becomes stationary.

ii) I found that the magnet rests in a north-south direction. You will notice that the magnet finally takes a position in the North-South direction. Mark the endpoints towards the North with some color. Now disturb the magnet and again wait for some time.

iii) The colored portion comes to rest towards the north.

iv) I observed that the magnets always come to rest in the North-South direction.