I have got a physics lab question that said, distinguish pole of magnet. We have three bar magnet. Is there any way to do it? I don't think it is possible without other materials or techniques.
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7$\begingroup$ They call it the north pole for a reason... $\endgroup$– M. EnnsCommented Oct 4, 2016 at 18:38
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$\begingroup$ If you don't find some external reference (for example, the Earth magnetic field), then it is impossible because of symmetry: if the poles are mirrored in all of the magnets, you will get exactly the same result. $\endgroup$– peterhCommented Oct 5, 2016 at 16:46
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You could take one bar magnet and suspend it on a thread in the middle so that it can orient itself in the earth magnetic field. The pole that points to the north is the north pole of the magnet because the geographical north pole is actually near the magnetic south pole of the earth magnet. The poles of the other magnets you can find by comparison with the first one.
answered Oct 4, 2016 at 23:15