Here's a Question!

Announcer: Frostbite Theater presents... Cold Cuts! No baloney!

Joanna and Steve: Just science!

Joanna: Hi! I'm Joanna!

Steve: And I'm Steve!

Joanna: Here's a question for you...

Steve: A steel rod is magnetized by swiping it along a permanent magnet. Its field is viewed by placing it under a piece of paper, sprinkling iron filings on the paper, and then shaking the table by smacking a piece of wood with a hammer a number of times.

Joanna: This shows that it has two poles, one on each end.

Steve: The rod is then cut in half and the field is viewed again.

Joanna: What is seen?

Steve: Does one piece have two poles and the other piece have none?

Joanna: Does each piece have two poles?

Steve: Does each piece have one pole?

Joanna: Or, does each piece have no poles?

Pause the video now if you'd like to think it over before we show you what happens.

Joanna: As far as we know, magnetic poles always come in pairs. Magnetic monopoles could exist. They've just never been observed.

Steve: Sadly, cutting a magnet in half doesn't make magnetic monopoles. It just makes two magnets.

Joanna: Thanks for watching. I hope you'll join us again soon for another question!