English: Two bar magnets showing the forces between them. The forces exerted by magnets are concentrated at two locations on the magnet; the magnet's poles. The north pole (N) and south pole (S) of these bar magnets are at their ends. Like poles attract one another, while unlike poles repel. So the total force and torque of these magnets on one another is given by the 8 vectors shown. The force on the lefthand magnet is equal to the vector sum ${\displaystyle \mathbf {F} _{1}+\mathbf {F} _{2}+\mathbf {F} _{3}+\mathbf {F} _{4}}$ while the force on the righthand one is ${\displaystyle \mathbf {F} _{5}+\mathbf {F} _{6}+\mathbf {F} _{7}+\mathbf {F} _{8}}$. The magnitude of each force is equal to the product of the pole strength of the two poles, divided by the square of the distance between them.