Michael Discovers The Magnet (1955)

[Music] [Music] la [Music] it all started one morning when Michael was eating breakfast suddenly he saw his mother do something that looked like magic hey Mom how'd you do that this it's my new bulletin board dad brought it to me last night yeah but how does it work with these little magnets see can I try it mom can I play with it of course you can after school but hurry now and finish your breakfast you'll be [Music] late that was Michael's introduction to the magnet right after school he made a beine for that bulletin board strange it doesn't stick to the wall although it sticks to the bulletin board it sticks to the kitchen cabinets but not to the milk bottle wait a minute the cabinets are metal and the bottle isn't maybe that's the answer yep the bulletin board seems to be made of metal too maybe that's it but no it doesn't stick to this metal what could it be Michael set out to keep track of the things the magnet sticks to and the things it doesn't by evening he had two pretty large piles Dad yes Mike why is it the needles are attracted by the magnet and not the pins take a look at the box that pins came out of son what does the Box have to do with it oh is it because the made of brass right and the needles they're made of steel right again everything in this pile is either iron or steel right nothing in this pile is iron or steel yes Michael has found the answer magnets pull or attract only things made of Iron and Steel they don't attract things made of anything else in the house look Mike I hate to interfere with your experiments but I have to have that magnet for my bulletin board a I just when I was getting started I'm sorry tell you what son tomorrow if I can remember I'll bring you home some magnetude of your own to experiment with oh Dad you will you won't forget I'll try not do Z oh [Music] boy Michael's didn't forget them in fact he brought home four magnets there were two u-shaped magnets called horseshoe magnets and two straight magnets called bar magnets and for the next several days Michael tried all kinds of experiments he found out everything he could about magnets to help him understand he asked questions and he read up on magnets too he had so much fun he wanted to share it with some of his friends he decided to put on a magic magnet Show Ladies and Gentlemen watch carefully please I will now make this sailboat move in any direction at my command right left there's a storm at se G I will now show how the force of this wonderful magnet will go through other material it will go through cardboard to pick up this key now [Music] it it will go through glass to move things on top it will go through water to pick up Nails this magnet is a horseshoe magnet now let me show you another magnet this magnet is a bar magnet where's the magnet the strongest Let's do an experiment to see where the maget is the strongest you see these TX yes I spread the TX on the cardboard now I place the magnet on the T see where they stick that's right the ends are called the poles that's where the force of the magnet is the strongest this force is invisible but it's very real I can make the force visible do you want me [Music] to all right I put the magnet down and cover it with a piece of cardboard in this salt shaker are iron filings I collected I sprinkle the iron fings over the cardboard and the invisible lines appear yes these iron filings show the path of the magnetic lines of force see how they are heaviest around the poles of the magnet now who would like to help me with a little experiment all right Susan I hang this bar magnet up here notice that the two magnets attract each other there's a trick going on here watch now you try it Susan it doesn't work this magnet pushes that magnet I saw you Michael I saw you you switched gin when you handed it to Susan that's what you [Music] did yes Michael played a trick on Su the pools on this magnet look the same but they are different one is marked s and the other is marked n they're called opposite poles let's see what happens when the S pole of one magnet is brought near the N pole of the other it is pulled toward or attracted the rule about magnets is that opposite poles attract each other another rule about magnets is that two poles which are alike push each other away like this this is called repels One S pole repels the other SP pole but an N pole and an S pole attract each other and now I'm going to show you how to make a magnet you see this needle it is not a magnet it will not pick up the other needle notice how Michael is stroking the needle on the magnet always in the same direction toward the pole this needle did not pick up the other needle before now watch see it has become a magnet now I'm going to make a compass which points to the north I take this needle which I have made into a magnet and put it in the paper now I put it in the pan watch see it which way is it pointing it's pointing North now see we've made a compass out of a plain old needle the Earth itself affects magnets so that a magnet which can turn freely will turn its end pole toward the north that's why we call it the N pole n stands for North seeking what does the S on the other pole stand for so Michael has shown his audience something really important that magnets do for us just look around and you'll see all kinds of uses for magnets in the kitchen for instance magnets are used in many ways they hold the knives in place they are sewn into hot pads to hold them to the side of the stove they are attached to can openers to hold the lid of the can so that it won't drop inside but magnets have more important uses too there is a magnet in every radio and television speaker and in every telephone [Music] receiver every electric motor has a magnet in it too an electromagnet which is different from the permanent magnets we have been talking about so the things that Michael showed his friends in his magic show are all important in our everyday life remember what these things were first that magnets ract only Iron and Steel second that magnetic force goes through other materials third that the magnetic force is strongest at the poles fourth that opposite poles attract like poles repel fifth that you can make a magnet by rubbing a piece of Steel on a magnet and last that the Earth itself is a magnet magnet so that the magnetic needle of a compass is made to turn toward the north why don't you get a magnet to experiment with and try some of these things for yourself [Music]