I have magnets from a disk drive.My question is if I connect wires to each of them from a power supply,leaving a gap just large enough for them to exert attractive/repulsive forces on each other,can electrons "jump" the gap,and if so is there a difference between using magnet electrodes as opposed to normal metal electrodes.
Depends on the direction of the current flow with respect to the magnetic field. If the current is parallel to the field (as is likely in your case) then the spark is unaffected. But if the current is perpendicular to the magnetic field then the spark is deflected laterally (in a direction perpendicular to both the magnetic field and the current) and 'blown out'. This is used in high current circuit breakers to 'quench' the arc.
