All magnets, no matter what their shape, have two regions called magnetic poles with the magnetism both in and around a magnetic circuit producing a definite chain of organised and balanced pattern of invisible lines of flux around it. These lines of flux are collectively referred to as the “magnetic field” of the magnet. The shape of this magnetic field is more intense in some parts than others with the area of the magnet that has the greatest magnetism being called “poles”. At each end of a magnet is a pole.

These lines of flux (called a vector field) can not be seen by the naked eye, but they can be seen visually by using iron fillings sprinkled onto a sheet of paper or by using a small compass to trace them out. Magnetic poles are always present in pairs, there is always a region of the magnet called the North-pole and there is always an opposite region called the South-pole.

Magnetic fields are always shown visually as lines of force that give a definite pole at each end of the material where the flux lines are more dense and concentrated. The lines which go to make up a magnetic field showing the direction and intensity are called Lines of Force or more commonly “Magnetic Flux” and are given the Greek symbol, (Φ).