what are magnetic poles? what are electric charges? and how are they similar and different?
Magnetic (di)poles can be regarded as the source of a magnetic field. A bar magnet has a South pole and a North pole. Magnetic fields are the result of moving electric charges, for example current through a conductor, or the spin of the electrons within a ferromagnetic material. Electric charges result from an accumulation of electrons that it is not compensated by an equal amount of protons. Electric charges can be positive (lack of electrons) or negative (surplus of electrons). Opposite magnetic poles attract each other while same magnetic poles repel each other. The same is true for electric charges of opposite polarity vs. same polarity. That's how they are similar. Magnetic poles cannot be separated. Cutting a bar magnet in half results in two bar magnets, each having a North pole and a South pole. Electric charges, however, can be separated. If you bring two metal plates together and somehow (through an external field) achieve that some electrons wander from one plate to the other, making one positively charged and the other negatively charged, then physically separating the two plates results in one positively and one negatively charged plate. This how magnetic poles and electric charges are different.
