A student fixes a sheet of white paper on a drawing board. He places a bar magnet in the centre of it. He sprinkles some iron filings uniformly around the bar magnet. Then he taps the board gently. Now answer the following questions: (i) What does the student observe ? Draw a diagram to illustrate your answer. (ii) Why do the iron filings arrange in such a pattern ? (iii) What does the crowding of the iron filings at the ends of the magnet indicate ?

A student fixes a sheet of white paper on a drawing board. He places a

1.	A student fixes a sheet of white paper on a drawing board. He places a bar magnet in the centre of it. He sprinkles some iron filings uniformly around the bar magnet. Then he taps the board gently. Now answer the following questions: (i) What does the student observe ? Draw a diagram to illustrate your answer. (ii) Why do the iron filings arrange in such a pattern ? (iii) What does the crowding of the iron filings at the ends of the magnet indicate ?
Answer» Solution :(i) The student observes the magnetic field DUE to the given bar magnet. The pattern of magnetic field is SHOWN here. (ii) There is a magnetic field around the given bar magnet. The iron filings experience force due to the magnetic field and a THUS align themselves along the magnetic field lines. (III) The CROWDING of the iron filings at the ends of the magnet indicate the position of two magnetic poles N and S of given bar magnet.