There are many different shapes of Magnets, but all magnets are a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, cobalt, etc. and attracts or repels other magnets

(Remember the Magnetic Field lines are invisible - They can be seen by covering a magnet with a sheet of paper and sprinkling iron filings on top - where they will be attracted and take the shape of the drawn pattern above.

The two ends of a magnet (or sides in a round / disc magnet) are called Poles . Unless they came marked with “N” or “S,” the poles of a magnet look the same. One easy way to tell which pole is north and which is south is to set your magnet near a compass. The needle on the compass that normally points toward the north pole of the Earth will move toward the magnet’s south pole. This works because the needle in a compass is actually a magnet! So the north pole of the compasses’ needle magnet is attracted to the south pole of your magnet.

Another way to tell which is north and which is south is by dangling your magnet from a string. When you dangle a magnet, it automatically turns itself so that one pole is pointing directly north and the other directly south, which is why we call them the “north” and “south” poles.

Attract or Repel?

The rule to remember is that opposites attract. Every magnet has both a north and a south pole. ... When you place like poles of two magnets near each other (north to north or south to south), they will repel each other.