Although the ancient Greeks and probably earlier peoples knew about magnetism and static electricity, not much was accomplished with these interesting phenomena until the Chinese began to use the magnetic compass for navigation around 1000 ce. Some of the basic laws of magnets were written down in 1269 and William Gilbert studied both static electricity and magnetism at the end of the 16th century. Then the subject was ignored by most scientists for a long time.

In the 18th century, Stephen Grey and Charles François Du Fay revived the study of static electricity, but it was not until Pieter van Musschenbroek received the first powerful electric shock (apart from those caused by lightning) in 1745 that the subject gained attention. Van Musschenbroek was one of the inventors of the... Read On........http://www.answers.com/topic/electricity-and-magnetism

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1. North poles point north, south poles point south.

2. Like poles repel, unlike poles attract.

3. Magnetic forces attract only magnetic materials.

4. Magnetic forces act at a distance.

5. While magnetized, temporary magnets act like permanent magnets.

6. A coil of wire with an electric current flowing through it becomes a magnet.

7. Putting iron inside a current-carrying coil increases the strength of the electromagnet.

8. A changing magnetic field induces an electric current in a conductor.

9. A charged particle experiences no magnetic force when moving parallel to a magnetic field, but when it is moving perpendicular to the field it experiences a force perpendicular to both the field and the direction of motion.

10. A current-carrying wire in a perpendicular magnetic field experiences a force in a direction perpendicular to both the wire and the field.

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