Electron movement in a stationary magnetic field

[toppentech]

howdy : I'm new to this site and i have not used a forum before so this is probably going to be stupid . if so ---sorry . anyway if i have a metal magnet (ie neodymium) connected to the positive of a high voltage source and a metal pin connected to the negative of the high voltage source with it being arranged so that a spark will jump from the pin to the magnet ------ which end of the magnet should it jump toward . in otherwords is the electron that is jumping the spark gap more attrected toward the north or south pole of the magnet .
all i see in most explanations is that an electron can be manipulated by a magnetic field BUT it never says which polarity of the magnet "pushes" and which "pulls" . i am trying to build a simple magnetically quenched spark gap for a tesla type coil apparatus . thanks for putting up with us simple folks mike

 

[Naty1]

an electron can be manipulated by a magnetic field

diagrams of magnetic field lines here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field


The force on a particle is given by F = qv x B where F,v, and B are vectors...

By convention, the magnetic field exits the magnetic from the north and re-enters at the south pole..
A postive particle therefore moves according to the right hand rule...and

an electron would be a -q, so it would move opposite...in either case a charged particle
moves othogonally to the magnetic field lines...not in alignment with them...not a good vechicle for a 'switch'...

 

[rollcast]

The electrons are not attracted to one end of the magnet. The beam will bend perpendicular to the magnetic field of the magnet.

 

[Naty1]

#3 is to the point... I forgot to add that to my post...but realigning the magnet will cause
different conditions as I detailed...

 

[toppentech]

thanks for your reply . in the past i have had the above described situation , and the spark (from negative terminal) would jump to the magnet . the mag was 2 x 2 x 1 thick (magnetized thru thickness) . the spark would jump , on a curve, way over to the face of the magnet , but i at the time , wasn't smart enough to write it down somewhere which pole the spark preferred . the switch i was mentioning earlier is a magnetically quenched spark gap , which was invented/patented by nicoli tesla in the early 1900s . the idea is that there is a spark gap with a huge mag field perpendicular to it . when a spark is started across the gap it "rides" ionized air which is extinguished by the mag field as it pulls the spark apart toward opposite mag poles . ----as i understand it --- thanks mike