How Do Magnets Work?

[CLICK] Stick a magnet on the fridge — CLACK! Drop a paperclip — it snaps right back! Roll a marble past — it just rolls free, But the iron nail jumps up to ME!

How do magnets work? How do they pull? Why does iron come and the plastic stay dull? How do magnets work? Tell me, please — What's the secret in a thing like these?

Tiny tiny tiny magnets in the middle! Tiny tiny atoms all aligned not a riddle! Tiny tiny tiny magnets all in line — That's the trick that makes the magnet shine!

Every atom is a teeny magnet inside Every speck of iron — it can't hide! But in most stuff they point every which way North-south-east-west — a messy ballet!

In a magnet, though, they LINE up TIGHT — All the little arrows pointing one way, right? All the little norths point THIS way — All the little souths point THAT way!

And around the magnet — INVISIBLE STUFF! A field that reaches out, sneaky tough! You can't see it, you can't feel it stand, But iron in the field jumps to your hand!

How do we know? Hans Ørsted, eighteen-twenty — Set a compass next to a wire — saw it SWING! Electricity moved the magnet sway — Currents and magnets work the same way!

[CLACK] Next time a paperclip jumps and clings Picture the secret atom-arrow things All pointing the same way, lined up neat Pulling the iron right off its feet!