Why Do Magnets Attract and Repel?

Every electron generates a tiny magnetic field due to its spin and orbital motion. In most materials, these fields cancel out randomly. In ferromagnetic materials like iron, cobalt, and nickel, quantum exchange interactions cause neighbouring electron spins to align in regions called magnetic domains. When an external field aligns these domains, the material becomes a magnet. Like poles repel because their field lines push against each other (higher energy configuration), while opposite poles attract because their field lines merge smoothly (lower energy). The fundamental force behind magnetism is the electromagnetic force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature, described mathematically by Maxwell equations formulated in the 1860s.