How can a magnet pull a paper clip without touching it?

Have you ever put a magnet on the fridge? Click! It snaps on and holds tight. Now picture a paper clip lying on a table, with a magnet coming near.

Before the magnet even touches it, the clip slides and jumps up to meet it. Nobody pushed the clip at all. So how can a magnet pull a paper clip without touching it?

A magnet has a pull all around it, like a hug you cannot see. This pull is invisible. It reaches out past the magnet's edges into the air, so it can tug things that are not touching it.

The pull is strongest right next to the magnet. Farther away, it grows weak, like a voice across a big room. That is why a clip far across the table stays still.

The paper clip is made of steel, which is a hard, shiny metal. Nails are made of steel too, and so is the fridge door from before.

Steel is magnetic, which means a magnet can pull it. A wooden block or a crayon is not magnetic. The pull slips right past them, but it tugs on the steel clip.

Now you slide the magnet slowly toward the clip. The strong part of the pull comes closer and closer to the steel. What do you think is stronger now, the magnet's pull or the clip's weight holding it down?

The magnet's pull wins! Up close, it is stronger than the clip's weight. So the magnetic clip lifts off the table and zips through the air. It sticks to the magnet.

Let's remember steel and magnetic. A magnet's invisible pull reaches through the air and tugs magnetic steel close.

Sleep well, little explorer, and dream of tiny paper clips hopping up to say hello to their magnets.