3 Ways to Determine the Strength of Magnets - wikiHow Add further paperclips to measure the strength of the magnet. Touch the bent paperclip to the magnet at one of its poles. The hook portion should hang free. Hang paperclips from the hook. Keep doing this until the weight of the clips causes the hook to fall. [7] 4 Note the number of paperclips that caused the hook to fall off.