How to find the magnetic poles on a magnet

A magnet always has two magnetic poles: a north pole and a south pole. Because magnets have the highest strength at the poles, it is important to know where on a magnet the poles are located. But it's rarely necessary to know which pole is the north pole and which pole is the south pole. For example, if you want to make a magnetic knife holder or use magnets for locking mechanisms in a cabinet, it doesn't matter which way the poles are facing.
If you still need to know the position of the poles, there are several ways to do this. We'll tell you about them in this article.

In practice, all magnets have two poles; a north pole and a south pole. It can sometimes be a bit confusing to talk about which pole is north and which is south because they are often confused with the Earth's magnetic north and south poles. When we talk about magnets, the magnetic north pole is the pole that points towards the Earth's magnetic north pole. The attentive reader may wonder why the north pole of a magnet can point towards the Earth's north pole. North + north and south + south repel each other, whereas north + south and south + north are attracted to each other. So a magnet's north pole actually corresponds to the Earth's magnetic south pole. If that's confusing, think of it as a piece of trivia that's interesting to know but that you probably don't need when working with magnets. 

Depending on your mobile phone, it is often possible to download an app in your app store that can locate the poles of a magnet. You can try searching for 'magnet pole localizer' in your mobile's app store. If an app is available, simply install it. Once installed, place your magnet in front of your phone and the app will tell you if it's a north or south pole facing the phone. Your cell phone will not be damaged as long as you hold the magnet 1 cm or more away. Do not let the magnet touch the cell phone as it can erase its data.

If you already have a magnet where you know the location of the poles, you can use it to locate the pole on another magnet. Simply point the known south pole to one of the unknown poles on the new magnet. If the magnets repel each other, you have found the south pole of the new magnet. If the two magnets are attracted to each other instead, you have found the north pole of the new magnet. Below we have used the red and green magnet to identify the poles of a magnet with unknown magnet poles.

You can also use a compass to identify the magnetic poles. In the compass, the red arrow is the north pole and the white arrow is the south pole. If the red arrow points towards the magnet, you have found the south pole of the magnet. If the red arrow points away from the magnet, you have found the north pole of the magnet.

No, there isn't. Basically, the poles of our magnets are positioned as you see in the illustrations below. But you can't see which pole is north and which pole is south.

No. In practice, all magnets have a north and a south pole. There is research into single-pole magnets, but at the moment it is only research and not something that has been tested in reality.

Each of the smaller magnets now has two poles, just like the magnet before it was broken.

If you buy two magnets, you decide whether you want them to attract or repel each other. Simply turn the magnets until they either attract or repel each other. This applies to all magnets as they all have a north and a south pole.