Magnetic repulsion and attraction

[Celluhh]

You may have noticed that the materials that make good magnets are the same as the materials magnets attract. This is because magnets attract materials that have unpaired electrons that spin in the same direction. In other words, the quality that turns a metal into a magnet also attracts the metal to magnets.

copied this from howstuffworks.com

Ok so by how I understand it from howstufffworks.com and yahoo answers, magnets attract materials that have unpaired electrons that spin in the same direction, so north pole of a magnet is attracted to south pole of another magnet because the south pole of the magnet has unpaired electrons that spin in the same direction and which faces the north pole of the first magnetso south pole is canceled out by the north pole? Ok this sounds totally wrong somehow...

Can someone please help and explain why magnets repel too in terms of atomic theory thank you!

 

[Vailanor]

Magnets repel each other when both of them have the same poles facing each other (north to north or south to south). This is because the poles of the magnets have the same type of magnetic field, and the two fields interact with each other, creating a repulsive force. This is due to the fact that the electrons in each magnet's magnetic field are spinning in the same direction and the two fields oppose each other.