If a bar magnet is cut in half, what is true about the pieces?

• A. The pieces are two shorter magnets, each with a north and a south pole
• B. The pieces lose one pole and become monopoles
• C. The pieces become two identical magnets with only one pole
• D. The larger piece keeps both poles while the other loses a pole

Answer: (A)

Cutting a bar magnet does not create single poles. Magnetic material is made of dipoles that produce a north and a south end. When you divide a magnet, each piece becomes its own magnet with both a north and a south pole, just smaller. The idea of losing a pole or obtaining monopoles isn’t how magnets behave; poles always come in pairs on each piece.