[Physics] Why doesn’t the two poles of a u-shaped magnet attract each other

electromagnetism

Why doesn't the two poles of a u-shaped magnet attract each other? Since opposite poles attract each other why cant the north and south pole of a u-shaped magnet collapseenter image description here by attracting each other?

Best Answer

They do attract one another. Indeed one of the biggest engineering problems in the building of very large scale electrical power generation hardware is the construction of generator rotors and stators to withstand the enormous stresses put on them by the magnetostatic attraction / repulsion between neighboring currents. The yoke of any magnetic system is in a state of constant internal stress owing to self force between its parts.

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