NCERT Book Class 6 Science Exploring Magnets PDF Download

Chapter 4: Exploring Magnets

Reshma lives in a coastal town of Kerala and is very fond of writing short stories. Her grandmother loves listening to her stories, so Reshma was writing a new story to share with her grandmother on her 60th birthday.

The story was based on a ship carrying spices from Kerala for trade in the olden days. Reshma was aware that in those days, the sailors used stars to find directions at night. But in her story, a situation arose wherein the sailors got caught in a storm with an overcast sky and stars were not visible. Reshma could not take her story forward as she could not think of a way for sailors to find directions. She searched for information on the internet and her school library. She learnt that the travellers used a device, known as a magnetic compass, for finding directions.

Reshma had seen pencil boxes and purses which had magnets to keep them closed. A writing board in her school also had a duster with a magnet. But she had never looked at those carefully. She now became curious to learn more about magnets and magnetic compasses.

The magnets used by sailors in the olden days were based on naturally occurring magnets, known as lodestones which were discovered in ancient times. Later on, people found out that magnets could also be made from pieces of iron. Nowadays, we have magnets made of different materials. The magnets that you find in your school laboratory and those used in pencil boxes, stickers, toys are all artificial magnets (Fig. 4.1). The magnets can be of various shapes, some of which are shown in Fig. 4.2.

[Figure 4.1: Some common items that have magnets attached to them, See in your textbook]

4.1 Magnetic and Non-magnetic Materials

Activity 4.1: Let us explore

• Collect a few objects made of different materials and also a magnet.
• Predict which of the objects will stick to the magnet. Write your prediction in Table 4.1.
• Now hold a magnet in your hand and bring it near the objects one by one (Fig. 4.3). Observe which of the objects stick to the magnet.
• Record your observations in Table 4.1.

[Figure 4.2: Magnets of different shapes - Bar magnet, U-shaped magnet, Ring magnet, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

Notice the question in the pink box: "Do magnets stick to objects made of certain materials only?" This is what you are testing. Don't just write down what sticks; think about whether there is a pattern - for example, do all metal objects stick, or only some? This helps you see the difference between magnetic and non-magnetic materials.

[Figure 4.3: Identifying the materials attracted by a magnet, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

When you do this activity, make sure you test a wide range of materials - not just metals. Try wood, plastic, glass, rubber, paper and iron objects. Your predictions should be made before you test, so you can compare what you thought would happen with what actually happens. That is the whole point of an experiment.

Key Points

• Magnets are objects that can attract certain materials, especially iron and steel. In ancient times, people used naturally occurring magnets called lodestones; today we use artificial magnets made from various materials.
• Magnets come in different shapes such as bar magnets, U-shaped magnets and ring magnets, each designed for different uses.
• Not all materials are attracted by magnets; only certain materials like iron are magnetic, while materials like wood, plastic, rubber and glass are non-magnetic.

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