Studies of the two-dimensional motion of a magnet sphere in the presence of a second, fixed sphere
provide a convenient venue for exploring magnet–magnet interactions, inertia, friction, and rich
nonlinear dynamical behavior. These studies exploit the equivalence of these magnetic interactions
to the interactions between two equivalent point dipoles. We show that magnet–magnet friction plays
a role when magnet spheres are in contact, table friction plays a role at large sphere separations,
and eddy currents are always negligible. Web-based simulation and visualization software, called
MagPhyx , is provided for education, exploration, and discovery.