Re: When a strong and weak magnet attract, which magnet exerts stronger force?

This answer is going to sound odd at first, but I will explain.  The
force exerted by the strong magnet on the weak magnet is EXACTLY THE
SAME magnitude as the force exerted by the weak magnet on the strong
magnet.  If you have a science book handy, look up Newton's Third Law,
the law of action and reaction.  That's what applies to this situation.

How can that be?  If the strong magnet is stronger, it must have more
of something.  The strong magnet has a larger MAGNETIC FIELD than the
weak magnet, but not a larger magnetic force.

Let me give you an analogy with which you are very familiar.  The
Earth has a much larger gravitational field than you do because the
mass of the Earth is so much larger than your own mass.  The Earth's
gravitational field pulls rain drops to the ground and keeps the Moon
in orbit, but you never notice your own extremely weak gravitational
field.

The Earth exerts a force on you.  It's called your weight.  Any
bathroom scale can measure this force.  Now what is the force that you
exert on the Earth?  Exactly the same in magnitude, but opposite in
direction.

--Dr. Randall J. Scalise    http://www.phys.psu.edu/~scalise/