The process in which a piece of magnetic material acquires the magnetic properties temporarily in presence of another magnet near it is called magnetic induction.
Induction precedes attraction — When a piece of iron is brought near one end of a magnet (or one end of a magnet is brought near the piece of iron), the nearer end of the piece acquires an opposite polarity by magnetic induction.
Since unlike poles attract each other, therefore the iron piece is attracted towards the end of the magnet. Thus, the piece of iron first becomes a magnet by induction and then it is attracted. In other words, induction precedes attraction.
