Say you have a magnet, one end of the magnet has a positive charge and

[AstrophysicsX]

Say you have a magnet, one end of the magnet has a positive charge and the other end has a negative charge. What would happen to the magnet if you broke it in half?

 

[jtbell]

If you mean positive and negative electric charges, then you will have two magnets, one positively charged and one negatively charged. Also, both of the new magnets will be magnetic dipoles, each with a "north" pole and a "south" pole.

I think you will find it rather difficult to create a permanent magnet with opposite electric charges on the two ends, because as far as I know, all permanent magnets are metals, i.e. conductors.

 

[Bill_K]

as far as I know, all permanent magnets are metals, i.e. conductors.

Refrigerator magnets are nonmetallic.

 

[Drakkith]

Refrigerator magnets are nonmetallic.

Are you sure? What are they made of if not metallic materiel?

 

[Evil Bunny]

If you're talking about north and south magnetic fields, then when you break it in half you still have a magnet with north and south magnetic fields... it's just half as long as it was before...

EDIT: post #2 already said this... sorry. And you'll have two of them... as pointed out.

 

[AstrophysicsX]

So, if you repeatedly cut a magnet in half, is there a point where it would cease to have two poles?

 

[Polyrhythmic]

So, if you repeatedly cut a magnet in half, is there a point where it would cease to have two poles?

No, your magnet will always remain a dipole.

 

[jtbell]

Even a single electron, proton, or neutron still acts as a magnetic dipole. Each type of fundamental particle has a fixed magnetic dipole moment.

 

[AstrophysicsX]

I forget the name, what do you call a magnet that has one charge only?

 

[AstrophysicsX]

P.S: I know that we haven't observed one in nature yet.

 

[jtbell]

I forget the name, what do you call a magnet that has one charge only?

I think you mean "pole" not "charge". When we say "charge" we almost always mean "electric charge."

Assuming that's the case, the word you're looking for is "monopole."

 

[AstrophysicsX]

So why isn't a lone electron considered a monopole?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Because a lone electron has both a north and south magnetic pole.

 

[Drakkith]

So why isn't a lone electron considered a monopole?

A lone electron is an electric monopole (an incorrect term actually, as there are no "poles" to the electric charge), but it is NOT a magnetic monopole. We have yet to observe any magnetic monopoles, but they are theorized by some to exist in certain situations I believe.

 

[AstrophysicsX]

A lone electron is an electric monopole (an incorrect term actually, as there are no "poles" to the electric charge), but it is NOT a magnetic monopole. We have yet to observe any magnetic monopoles, but they are theorized by some to exist in certain situations I believe.

That answers my question perfectly, Thanks.