This week in Science we tested the strength of different types of magnets and investigated how magnetic force is transferred through metal. We used metal paper clips and three different types of magnets – a bar magnet, a horseshoe magnet and a ring magnet. We made sure it was a fair test by keeping the size and the material of the paper clips the same. The only thing we changed was the type of magnet. We found out that the bar magnet was the strongest because it had the longest chain of paper clips!
We also made our own compasses by magnetising paper clips and floating them on corks in water. By using a normal compass we could see the magnetised paperclips turning in the direction of north. It was great fun rubbing the magnets onto the paper clips to magnetise them.
