Earth's Magnetic Field

A compass points north because it is
attracted to the south pole of earth's magnet

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comparison between the placement of the
Magnetic Poles and the Geographical Poles

The earth is a giant magnet in which there is a north pole and south pole. In geograpghy class, students are taught geographical north and south poles where the north pole is at the top and the south pole is at the bottom of the earth. The "north" and "south" poles of the earth gives people direction and therefore, are given the names true north and true south. On the contrary, magnets have a north and south poles in which north is attracted to south and south is attracted to north. Therefore if a compass points north, the compass is actually attracted to the south magnetic pole of the earth. In actuality, with the science and physics of a magnet, the poles of earth are switched and the north pole is the south pole of a magnetic and the south pole is the north pole of a magnetic. These scientific poles are called magnetic south, which is the north pole, and magnetic north, which is the south pole. It can also be called Earth's south and Earth's north. But how can people differentiate between these two and which one is more reliable than the other? Geographical/ true north & south are more reliable because they are situated at the top and bottom of the earth unlike magnetic/ Earth's north & south, which is tilted at an angle and continues to tilt and change angles. In summary, in a geographical sense, the north pole is called the geographical north and the south pole is called the geographical south. Opposites attract so if the compass points north, that means it is attracted to a south charge therefore the north pole is actually magnetic south or Earth's south and the south pole is magnetic north or Earth's north.

Magnets can also lose their north and south magnetic properties when they are heated, therefore the Earth's inner core does not have magnetic forces. Although, one theory believes that the inner core, composed of liquid iron, eletrically conducts the magnetic properties of earth's pole. Additionally, it is at the equator that the magnetic field is perfectly parallel to earth's surface, the angle of difference between other areas, other than the equator, is called magnetic declination.

Works Cited

Castleman, A. (2008, February 28). The Earth Has More Than One North Pole: Scientific American. Science News, Articles and Information | Scientific American. Retrieved February 25, 2012, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-earth-has-more-than-one-north-pole

Mista, C. (2011, November 23). This is a password protected video on Vimeo. Vimeo, Video Sharing For You. Retrieved February 25, 2012, from http://vimeo.com/29641648

Russell, R. (2009, April 17). Earth's North Magnetic Pole. Windows to the Universe. Retrieved February 25, 2012, from http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Magnetosphere/earth_north_magnetic_pole.html