Magnetic pole, region at each end of a magnet where the external magnetic field is strongest. The north-seeking pole of such a magnet, or any similar pole, is called a north magnetic pole. The south-seeking pole, or any pole similar to it, is called a south magnetic pole.

The force of a magnetic field on a particle with spin causes the particle to rotate it’s spin to align with the magnetic field. Taking these two ideas together, then, the Earth’s magnetic field will cause the magnet to align north to south. That’s why people named them the north and south poles.

Unless they came marked with “N” or “S,” the poles of a magnet look the same. One easy way to tell which pole is north and which is south is to set your magnet near a compass. The needle on the compass that normally points toward the north pole of the Earth will move toward the magnet’s south pole. Wanna know a secret?

Every magnet has both a north and a south pole. When magnets are used in magnetic therapy, the poles are often referred to as being positive or negative. Generally, the south pole is termed positive, and the north negative.

Positive Y-axis is north and positive X-axis is east. Z-axis is always the vertical axis and is positive upwards.

a region of space near a magnet, electric current, or moving charged particle in which a magnetic force acts on any other magnet, electric current, or moving charged particle.

At normal temperatures, magnetic fields can pass through the material normally. When a magnet is placed above a superconductor at critical temperature, the superconductor pushes away its field by acting like a magnet with the same pole causing the magnet to repel, that is, “float”—no magical sleight of hand required.

Normal things, even humans, can levitate if they are placed in a strong magnetic field. Such materials can be levitated using magnetic fields of about 10 Tesla.