What will happen with the magnets below?
a
they will repel
b
they will attract
c
nothing will happen
d
not enough information to determine
3 answers
d) Not enough information to determine. There is no information provided about the positioning or orientation of the magnets.
While experimenting with electromagnets, students oriented two like you see in the diagram here. Predict what will happen and explain why
Based on the diagram, the two electromagnets are oriented with their poles facing each other, which means they are like poles (either both north or both south). Like poles of magnets repel each other, so the two electromagnets in the diagram will repel each other. This is because the magnetic field lines from each electromagnet are in the same direction and therefore cause a repulsive force between the two magnets. The repulsion would be stronger if the electromagnets were closer or if they had stronger magnetic fields.