Permanent magnets are made by placing pieces of iron cobalt, and nickle into strong magnetic fields. Permanent magnets are mixtures of iron, nickle, or cobalt with other elements. These are called hard magnetic materials. Electro magnets are temporary magnets made by electric currents. The simplest electromagnets are made of an electric current flowing through a coil of wire.
Many electromagnets have a cylinder made of soft magnetic material.
One end of the thing becomes the north pole of the electromagnet and the other end becomes the south pole. When a current passes through the coil the thing becomes strongly magnetized. The strength of an electromagnet depends on the number of windings in the coil and the strength of the electric current. The strongest electromagnets are called hybrid magnets. But a magnet cannot be made to stick to materials which are plastic, or cotton, or any other material, such as wood, which is not magnetic.