No this is not a political thread. I have a bunch of powerful rare earth magnets, but I have no idea which the north and south poles are. It occurred to me, glue one to something that floats and put it in a bowl of water. Will the North pole point north or the south? A practical solution to a real world problem. My gut tells me the south pole will point North, but a little voice dissents. Once I have a standard I can use it to identify the poles of the other magnets.