Vicarious Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 I learned this in physics class. The north pole of your compass' magnet points at the South magnetic pole of the earth, which is located at the North geographic pole. True? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_magnet#North-south_pole_designation_and_the_Earth.27s_magnetic_field The Earth's current geographic north is thus actually its magnetic south. Confounding the situation further, magnetised rocks on the ocean floor show that the Earth's magnetic field has reversed itself in the past, so this system of naming is likely to be backward at some time in the future. To avoid the confusion between geographic and magnetic north and south poles, the terms positive and negative are sometimes used for the poles of a magnet. The positive pole is that which seeks geographical north. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qfwfq Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Further, the magnetic poles aren't exactly coincident with the geographic poles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicarious Posted April 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Thank you for the answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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