Dear Dr. Porte --
To identify poles in a magnet as north or south, you can bring a magnetic
compass near the magnet. The pole of the compass which normally points north
will be attracted to the south pole of your magnet. If you don't have a
magnetic compass, you can try suspending your magnet from a long, thin thread
and observing which end of your magnet points north. This end is the north
pole of your magnet. It is interesting to note that the north geographic pole
of the earth is actually a south magnetic pole, which attracts the north
magnetic pole of a magnetic compass. I hope this helps. -- Don Rathjen
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