Pointing North

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You have in your hand a compass. Its little needle is pointing toward a certain letter on the dial. You hold the compass so that its top is toward the setting sun and the little finger points toward your right arm. You hold the compass so that the top points toward Texas when you are in Oklahoma, and the needle points straight back at you. A strange little instrument that has often confused and confounded the masses. What is this strange thing called The Magnetic North Pole?

When the different explorers were trying to brave frigid environs and find the North (or for that matter the South) Pole they were not searching for the one that makes a compass magnet move. They were searching for the one through which the imaginary axis of the Earth (a discussion for another day) passes. The Earth generates a magnetic field because (some believe) of the potential interaction between the solid center core of the Earth (this is theoretical, but is all but proven through experimentation) and the molten outer core that surrounds it.

The current that is produced circle the Earth from West to East (we know this by the right hand rule, or right hand grip rule) and the magnetic lines of flux flow in such a way that we have a North and a South magnetic pole. Know that these poles are not the same as the geographic poles (where the ‘axis’ punches through) because of the movement of the molten core and…well I admit I am not sure. But what I mean is that the magnetic poles are in constant motion. It does appear that this movement is in one direction and that the pole will change places eventually. And probably have before.

There are many suppositions as to why the Earth has a magnetic field, but this is the most accepted. However, the real question is not how does a compass work or what are the magnetic poles, but how can we use this energy that the Earth freely gives us. No one really knows. The vaunted Einstein himself was trying to understand the Earth’s magnetism and how it could be utilized when he died.

He could never discover a way, and so, to this day, the process by which we could take advantage of the Earth’s magnetism is unknown. We also do not know what effect tapping the magnetism for energy might have. So, maybe its better that we dont try to use it.

Another peculiarity of magnetism is that they are polar. And what happens if we try to join same pole of different magnets? They repel each other. Why? The best explanation that I have found is that of balance. Magnetic lines of flux move in one direction (toward the N pole.) Therefore when you put the N pole of one magnet with the S pole of another magnet the lines of flux mesh and there is no repulsion.

If the poles you try to touch are the same, then the magnetic lines of flux cannot balance, and therefore repel each other. It may sound sort of lame, but the actual mechanism does follow all other things in nature and tries to work toward a balance.

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About The Author:

A. Rahman writes articles on various scientific, factual, technology and health related topics. He also writes articles for fun facts and interesting facts. You can find various funny facts on this website.