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Primary Science · Year 3Chapter 10 · Magnets
Year 3 Science · Magnets · Lesson 10.5

Year 3 Science: Like poles repel, unlike poles attract

Part of the Year 3 Science magnets chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

10.5

Like poles repel, unlike poles attract

Year 3
F6: predict whether 2 magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facing
Story. Ruby holds two magnets with their N poles facing each other. They push apart. “Like poles repel,” says Mr Patel. Ruby turns one magnet over, so that its S pole faces an N pole. The magnets snap together. “Unlike poles attract,” says Mr Patel.

Two poles can be like poles or unlike poles. Two N poles are like poles. Two S poles are like poles. An N pole and an S pole are unlike poles.

Like poles repel: they push apart. Unlike poles attract: they pull together.

To predict what two magnets will do, look only at the two poles that will face each other. Then ask: are they like poles, or unlike poles?

Like polesUnlike polesSNNSlike poles repelSNSNunlike poles attract
Left: two N poles face each other, and the magnets push apart. Right: an N pole faces an S pole, and the magnets pull together.

The table predicts what happens for four pairs of poles that face each other.

Which poles face each other?Attract or repel?
north pole and north polerepel
south pole and south polerepel
north pole and south poleattract
south pole and north poleattract

Key ideas

  • Like poles repel: two N poles, or two S poles.
  • Unlike poles attract: an N pole and an S pole.
  • To predict, look only at the two poles that face each other.
  • The size or the colour of a magnet does not decide whether it attracts or repels.
Worked example 10.5.1
Two north poles face each other. Do the magnets attract or repel? Write the word.

Method. Decide whether the poles are like or unlike.

  1. Read the poles. Two north poles face each other.
    north and north
  2. Name the kind. Two north poles are like poles.
    like poles
  3. Use the rule. Like poles repel, so the magnets push apart.
    repel
  4. Write the answer.
    repel

Check. The table also says north and north repel. ✓

Watch out. Like poles push apart. Do not say they attract just because both are magnets.

Worked example 10.5.2
A north pole faces a south pole. Do the magnets attract or repel? Write the word.

Method. Decide whether the poles are like or unlike.

  1. Read the poles. A north pole faces a south pole.
    north and south
  2. Name the kind. A north pole and a south pole are unlike poles.
    unlike poles
  3. Use the rule. Unlike poles attract, so the magnets pull together.
    attract
  4. Write the answer.
    attract

Check. The table also says north and south attract. ✓

Worked example 10.5.3
Look at the table in section 10.5. How many of the four pairs attract? Write the number.

Method. Count the rows that say attract.

  1. Read the last column. The rows that say attract are north pole and south pole, and south pole and north pole.
    two attract rows
  2. Count them. So two of the four pairs attract.
    2
  3. Write the answer.
    2

Check. The other two rows, the two like pairs, say repel. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: the size or the colour of a magnet does not decide whether it attracts or repels. Only the poles that face each other decide this.

Try it at home or school (with a grown-up). With a grown-up, take two bar magnets. Before you bring them together, predict whether each pair of ends will attract or repel. Then test each pair, with the two ends facing each other, and record the results in a table. Keep the magnets away from your mouth, phones and bank cards.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask: “Which ends are facing? Are they like poles or unlike poles?” Let your child use the words like and unlike.

Exercise 10E  Like poles repel, unlike poles attract

1
FTwo north poles face each other. Do they attract or repel? Write the word.
2
FTwo south poles face each other. Do they attract or repel? Write the word.
3
FA north pole faces a south pole. Do they attract or repel? Write the word.
4
FFill in the gap: like poles ___. Write the word.
5
FFill in the gap: unlike poles ___. Write the word.
6
FAre two north poles like poles or unlike poles? Write the word.
7
FAre a south pole and a north pole like poles or unlike poles? Write the word.
8
FLook at the table in section 10.5. How many of the four pairs repel? Write the number.
9
FLook at the picture in section 10.5. In which picture do the poles repel: left or right? Write the word.
10
PSPredict: the south pole of one magnet faces the north pole of another magnet. Do they attract or repel? Write the word.
11
PSAli says two magnets with their north poles facing always attract. Is Ali right? Write no or yes.
12
PSWorking scientifically. Write one prediction for two magnets with a north pole facing a north pole. Write what will happen.
13
RExplain how you could make two magnets attract each other, using the words unlike poles. Write one sentence.

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