True or false: If a bar magnet is cut in half, each piece remains magnetized with both a north and a south pole.

True or false: If a bar magnet is cut in half, each piece remains magnetized with both a north and a south pole.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not enough information
• D. Only the larger piece remains magnetized

Answer: (A)

Permanent magnets are made of many tiny magnetic domains aligned so the material behaves like a dipole, with a north pole at one end and a south pole at the other. Cutting the magnet in half doesn’t erase this alignment; it creates two smaller magnets. Each piece retains its internal domain alignment, so both ends remain opposite poles, and the freshly exposed surfaces also become poles. Therefore, each fragment stays magnetized with a north and a south pole. The idea that only the larger piece remains magnetized isn’t correct, and there isn’t a need for extra information—the magnetization persists unless the material is demagnetized.

Permanent magnets are made of many tiny magnetic domains aligned so the material behaves like a dipole, with a north pole at one end and a south pole at the other. Cutting the magnet in half doesn’t erase this alignment; it creates two smaller magnets. Each piece retains its internal domain alignment, so both ends remain opposite poles, and the freshly exposed surfaces also become poles. Therefore, each fragment stays magnetized with a north and a south pole. The idea that only the larger piece remains magnetized isn’t correct, and there isn’t a need for extra information—the magnetization persists unless the material is demagnetized.