Magnet and compass – exploring magnetic fields

Integrated ScienceElectricity & MagnetismAges 12–13

Drag a bar magnet, rotate it with the angle slider, then use a compass and a field meter to explore the magnetic field around it: the compass has inertia and swings before settling along the field like a real compass, while the meter reads the field strength, its components and its angle at any point, even inside the magnet. Turn on Earth mode to see why a compass needle always points north–south: a giant magnet lies inside the planet, with its south pole near the geographic North Pole. Based on the "Magnet and Compass" simulation by PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder (CC BY 4.0); rewritten.

Lesson: Magnetic fields