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Can Magnets Work Through Things?
Here is a great science question: Can a magnet attract something through a piece of paper? What about through a wooden table? Let us find out!
Experiment 1: Put a paper clip on top of a piece of paper. Hold a magnet under the paper. Can you move the paper clip by moving the magnet under the paper? YES! The magnetic force goes right through the paper!
Experiment 2: Put a paper clip on a thin book. Hold a magnet under the book. Can you still move the paper clip? Maybe, if the book is thin enough!
Experiment 3: Put a paper clip on a thick table. Hold a magnet under the table. Can you move it? Probably not. The table is too thick.
This tells us something important: magnetic force can go through thin materials, but it gets weaker with distance!