This phenomenon is what we have based our understanding of magnetism on for almost 200 years. Maxwell's equations are derived from this bipolar example. Also, the Biot-Savart law specifies a magnetic field as a steady distributed current by utilizing the same experiment.

These patterns of iron filings are a representation of the magnets' current, or its "B-field".

In the early 1960's, Dr. Richard Feynman lectured on the existence of magnetic vector fields. By the mid 1970's, an independent researcher by the name of Howard Johnson successfully mapped a magnets' vector fields by using a hall-effect device coupled with a personal computer.

His discovery has led researchers into a new direction in the study of magnetism that he called "Spintronics". A variety of new devices have emerged from this electron spin theory and the calculations of a magnets' A-field.

There is much we can gain from our continued study of magnetism, a most powerful and primal force of nature.

http://www.magnetostatics.com/

Hello, I thought some viewers might enjoy a different look at magnetic lines of force; take a look at the image gallery and compare that with what you imagine magnetic force fields look like.