What happens, if a bar magnet is cut into two pieces: (i) transverse to its length, (ii) along its length?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → In either case, one gets two magnets, each with a north and south pole.
Magnetism comes from the aligned atomic dipoles throughout the material, not from charges stored at the ends, so isolated magnetic poles do not exist. Every piece of a magnet, however it is cut, is itself a complete magnet with a north and a south pole.
In case (i) the magnet is cut across its length, giving two shorter magnets; each new cut face becomes a pole opposite to the original end it faces.
In case (ii) the magnet is cut along its length, giving two thinner magnets of the same length, each with its north and south poles at the same ends as the original magnet.
So in both cases one gets two magnets.
NCERT (2026-27):
The Dipole in a Uniform Magnetic Field – “… Example 5.1 (a) What happens if a bar magnet is cut into two pieces: (i) transverse to its length, (ii) along its length?”
The Dipole in a Uniform Magnetic Field – “… Solution (a) In either case, one gets two magnets, each with a north and south pole.”