The earth’s magnetic field

Hold a soft iron bar pointing to the north and sloping downwards, and hammer it several times. It will become slightly magnetic.

The earth is surrounded by magnetic field lines, which meet the earth in Great Britain and North America at an angle between 60 and 80-degrees. When the iron is hammered, its magnet particles are affected by the earth’s magnetic field lines and point to the north. In a similar way, tools sometimes become magnetic for no apparent reason. If you hold a magnetized bar in an east-west direction and hammer it, it loses its magnetism.