This work describes a very simple, low-cost experimental setup designed for measuring the force
between permanent magnets. The experiment consists of placing one of the magnets on a balance,
attaching the other magnet to a vertical height gauge, aligning carefully both magnets and measuring
the load on the balance as a function of the gauge reading. A theoretical model is proposed to
compute the force, assuming uniform magnetisation and based on laws and techniques accessible to
undergraduate students. A comparison between the model and the experimental results is made, and
good agreement is found at all distances investigated. In particular, it is also found that the
force behaves as r −4 at large distances, as expected.