Two fridge magnets look identical. One holds an iron clip through 3 sheets of paper, the other…
Two fridge magnets look identical. One holds an iron clip through 3 sheets of paper, the other only through 1 sheet. Neha says this definitely means the first magnet must be heavier. Can that conclusion be drawn?
Who do you think is right? Pick one.
The answer: No, strength and weight are different things
Why
Neha has noticed a real difference in strength, and pairing 'stronger' with 'heavier' is a fair first guess — bigger, heavier things often do feel more powerful. But a magnet's pulling strength comes from HOW well its material is magnetised, not from how much of it there is. Two magnets can weigh exactly the same on a kitchen scale while one is made of a material that holds magnetism far more strongly, or has been magnetised more thoroughly, than the other. A small, well-magnetised magnet can easily out-pull a bigger, weakly magnetised one. Test: weigh the two fridge magnets on a kitchen scale — they can come out identical even though one clearly held more sheets of paper. No, strength and weight are different things: how hard a magnet pulls tells you about its magnetism, not its mass, and the two don't have to match.
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