Magnets

[timharvey027]

If I took a magnet into deep space say outside our solar system where would the north seeking pole point??

2. If I chopped it in half (in space) would I still get two magnets?

3. Thought experiment: if I had a very microscopic bar made of just two iron atoms, on earth, and I magnetised it whilst it was lying west-east what would make one atoms north seeking?  If that makes sense??

[swansont]

1 hour ago, timharvey027 said:

If I took a magnet into deep space say outside our solar system where would the north seeking pole point??

"North" as a direction only has context near the surface of the earth. Someplace where a map of the earth has meaning.

magnetism in general works the same way in space as it does on earth. Your magnet will tend to align itself with any external field that is present. In seep space, there probably isn't much of a field.

 

Quote

2. If I chopped it in half (in space) would I still get two magnets?

Yes.

Quote

3. Thought experiment: if I had a very microscopic bar made of just two iron atoms, on earth, and I magnetised it whilst it was lying west-east what would make one atoms north seeking?  If that makes sense??

The atoms would align according to the magnetization you have them. If you magnetized them that implies you used a field noticeably stronger than the earth's to do so.