Permanent magnets have long been used in both traditional laboratory exercises and in inquiry-based learning activities. These pedagogical applications are typically timed to correspond to the early coverage of magnetism in the second-semester sequence of introductory physics. At the initial level the concepts relate to the magnetic field of the Earth, the magnetic forces on a magnetic dipole, the various classes of magnetic materials, the nature of the magnetic field in the vicinity of a permanent magnet, and perhaps the use of magnetic fields to produce electric currents. Although there are examples of quantitative experiments in magnetism and electromagnetism using permanent magnets, very rarely are these laboratories made part of the introductory laboratory experience.