Magnetism can cause forces to act without any contact. By understanding how permanent magnets and electromagnets work, we can describe and explain their uses in the world around us.
Similar (like) magnetic poles repel. Unlike magnetic poles attract. A magnet attracts a piece of iron. The most important of the two properties of attractionWhen two or more things come together, eg the north pole of a magnet is attracted to the south pole of a magnet. and repulsion is repulsionWhen two or more things are forced apart, eg the north pole of a magnet is repelled by the north pole of another magnet.. The only way to tell if an object is magnetised is to see if it repels another magnetised object.
The strength and direction of a magnetic field is represented by magnetic field lines. Field lines by convention go from North to South. A magnetic field is three-dimensional, although this is not often seen on a drawing of magnetic field lines.