Question

Where are the poles of a bar magnet located?
A) At the extreme ends
B) At the middle of the bar
C) A small distance prior to the extreme ends
D) Poles don’t exist for a bar magnet

Answer 1

Hint: When iron filings are brought near a bar magnet, most of them get attracted to the poles of the magnet and two big lumps of iron fillings are formed at the two ends of the bar magnet.

Complete step by step answer:
The poles of a magnet are the points on the magnet where there are maximum magnetic field lines entering or exiting, that is at those points on the magnet, the magnetic field is the strongest.
For a bar magnet, the poles of the magnet are located at the extreme ends. There are two poles in a bar magnet called the north Pole and the south pole. Outside the magnet, magnetic field lines travel from the north pole to the south pole while inside the magnet, the magnetic field lines travel from the south pole to the north pole.
A diagram of the magnetic field lines around a bar magnet will make it clearer that the poles are at its extreme ends.

As can be seen in the figure, the magnetic field lines crowd at the extreme ends of the magnet, that is, at its poles.
A compass when brought near a bar magnet will follow the magnetic field lines and try to point towards the poles when brought near them.
Hence, the correct option is A) at the extreme ends.

Note: Students should also keep in mind that similar to a bar magnet, even in a horseshoe magnet the magnetic poles are located at the extreme ends of the magnet. Hence, when iron filings are brought near a horseshoe magnet, two big lumps of iron fillings are formed at these two extreme ends indicating that the poles of the magnet are there. Students should not get confused if the question asks for the location of the poles of a horseshoe magnet and remember this fact.