Brice White, aged 13, of Columbus, Ohio for his question:

Do magnets ever lose their magnetism?

Even a little bar magnet is a handy gadget to have. It can pidk up pins and needles with no trouble at all. It can gather up fragments of iron and steel better than you do it yourself. Maybe you have wondered if such a magnet can be even more useful. Maybe it could be trained to gather up bits of iron and steel and let them drop in a box. But such a magnet cannot turn on and off its magnetism to orders.However, there are ways to rob it of its magic magnetism. One way is to use a hammer along with another magnet. First the two magnets must be placed in the proper position. To do that you must discover which are their north seeking poles and which are their south seeking poles.  Place the two bar magnets end to end to discover the difference.  The two north poles oppose each other andspring‑lightly apart; so will the two south poles. A north and a south pole will cling together,

Now let one magnet dangle freely from a string. Its north pole will swing north to face the earth's north magnetic pole. The earth itself is a magnet. Its north magnetic pole is really a south seeking pole. It draws the north seeking pole of  all smaller magnets to face it.

When you know which pole is which on each of your magnets, you can rob one of them of its magnetism. Let one magnet swing to face the earth's north magnetic pole. Place the other at right angles to it ‑facing from east to west. Now use the hammer. Strike a few sharp blows on the magnet pointing east and west. It will become a simple bar of iron, unable to pick up a single pin. You could also have taken away its magnetism by dropping it into a hot furnace.

It is possible to rob a magnet of its magnetism. It is also possible to magnetize a bar of soft iron.  You can do this job with the help of another bar magnet. For magnetism is catching between bite of iron. Simply 8t1roke a bar of soft iron along a magnet in one direction. The bar of iron will be able to pick up ping for you. Or you may do the job with a hamper, this time place your bar of iron alongside a magnet bar. Make sure they both point to the north and south, Strike‑, a few blows on the iron bar and you have a new magnet.

The smallest magnets in the world are atoms. Each atom has a north and a south seeking pole. Usually atoms jostle around pointing their poles in various directions. But a strong magnetic force can line them up and make most of them point in the same direction. Sometimes a bit of iron gets into an accident. The magnetic force of the earth lines up its atoms and gives it magnetism of its own. This is how magnetism is catching. It is also how a hammer blow or a hot furnace can free the lined up atoms and demagnetize the bit of iron.

Now for the magnet that can be turned on and off to orders. Electric current wound around a bar of iron can magnetize. The magnetic power is turned on and off when the current is s?witched on and off. Such a machine is the useful electromagnet. It can lift a load of metal, swing it over on a crane and let go. It can also do countless other jobs of work.