tomann
Aug 7, 2010, 06:00 AM
Since all magnets must have a north and south pole which, in effect, makes them neutral, how is it possible for a protron to be positive and not neutral? Or, for an electron to be negative and not neutral?
ebaines
Aug 9, 2010, 07:25 AM
I think you're confusing magnetic poles ("north" and "south") with electrical charge ("positive" or "negative"). These are two different things. An object can indeed be electrically neutral, or positively charged, or negatively charged. Rub your feet along a wool carpet on a dry day and your entire body will become electrically charged (negatively charged, I believe, as you pick up electrons off the rug). You see the effect of this static electricity when you touch something grounded and get a shock. That spark is your body discharging the excess electrons to grond so that you are again electrically neutral.
With magnetism, however, no object jhas been observed that is not "magnetically neutral" -- as you say, all magnetized objects have both a north and south pole.