Properties of Magnet

A freely suspended magnet always points in north-south direction:

For Example:

• Take a bar magnet and tie it with a thread , let it hang from a wooden stand , it is called a freely suspended magnet.
• Now, move the magnet , after some time it comes to rest. We see that one end of the magnet is pointing towards the North direction . This is called the North Pole of the Magnet.
• Similarly, the other side points towards the south direction. It is known as the South pole of Magnet.

Finding Directions

• Property of a freely suspended magnet is to align itself in the North-South direction.
• Travellers on land and sea used this property of magnet to find directions. 
• Travellers used to carry natural magnets and thread along with them, they used to find directions by suspending the magnets with a thread.