what sides of a magnet attract and what sides repel
Bar magnet. A magnet is a very special metal. When a magnet goes near a special kind of metal or other magnets, and the poles (sides) touching are opposite, it will pull, or attract the other metal or magnet closer. Also, if the two poles are the same, the two magnets will push away, or repel, from each other. This is called magnetism. Magnets can make some other metals into magnets when they are rubbed together.
A magnet's magnetism decreases when it is heated and increases when it is cooled. It has to be heated at around 1000 degrees Celsius. Like poles (S-pole and S-pole/N-pole and N-pole) will repel each other while unlike poles (N-pole and S-pole) will attract each other. Magnets are only attracted to special metals. Iron, cobalt and nickel are magnetic.