Home▸Magic Around Us▸Magnet & Paperclips 2D: pull paperclips toward a magnet you can drag

🧲 Magnet & Paperclips (2D) — Real Magnetic Pull

Drag a bar magnet across a 2D playground and watch paperclips get pulled in by a real inverse-square magnetic force. Adjust strength, add clips, and see how fast the pull fades with distance.

Magic Around Us2DEasy60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

Details

CategoryMagic Around Us

RenderingCanvas 2D

DifficultyEasy

Target FPS60

ControlsDrag the magnet with mouse or touch, Strength slider adjusts magnetic pull, Clips slider sets how many paperclips are on screen, Add Paperclip button drops a new clip, Tap/click empty space to drop a paperclip there, Reset button scatters a fresh batch of paperclips

magnetismphysics for kidsinverse-square forcecanvas2ddrag and dropmagnetic field

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A flat, 2D version of the magnet-and-paperclips game: drag a bar magnet around the screen and watch scattered paperclips get pulled toward it. The pull isn't fake or scripted — it's computed the same way a real magnetic dipole works, weaker far away and much stronger up close.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

Each end of the magnet (the N and S poles) pulls nearby paperclips with a force that falls off as the inverse square of the distance (F ∝ 1/r²) — the same falloff shape a real magnetic field follows close to its poles. Move a clip twice as far away and the pull drops to a quarter of its strength.

🎮 How to Use

Drag the magnet around the play area — paperclips inside its pull will curve toward it and stick. Tap empty space or the "Add Paperclip" button to drop new clips. Use the Strength slider to make the pull weaker or much stronger, and Reset to scatter a fresh batch.

💡 Did You Know?

A magnet has two poles, North and South, and both pull on iron objects like paperclips at the same time. That's why in this simulation clips get tugged toward whichever end of the magnet is closest to them!

⚙ Under the hood

A 2D canvas playground where you drag a bar magnet and watch scattered paperclips curve toward it. Each pole pulls with a real inverse-square force, so nearby clips snap in fast while distant ones barely move. Adjust magnet strength, add paperclips, and reset the scene.

magnetismphysics for kidsinverse-square forcecanvas2ddrag and dropmagnetic field

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install