Earth: Our Biggest Magnet

Last week, our physics class talked about Earth as a magnet. We all know that magnets have two poles, north and south. We also know that the Earth has two poles the North Pole and the South Pole. Pretty simple, right? Not quite. You see, in physics, north is actually south and south is actually north. Confused? Let me explain. 


The first thing you need to understand is that the Earth has many norths and souths. It has a True North and South, also known as Geographical North and South, then it has a Magnetic North and South and a Physical North and South.


Lets look at Earth's Geographical North and Geographical South. 







The Geographical North and South are located at the North and South Pole. Therefore, the North Pole is, in physics, called the Geographical North and the South Pole is called the Geographical South. 


  




 [1]






Next let's look at Magnetic North and South

Magnetic North is the location your compass would point to. So, you see, your compass does not actually point to True North, it points to Magnetic North because that is what the north point on the needle is magnetically attracted to. Magnetic North is a little off from True North and moves slightly every year. This means Magnetic North and South are not in the same location each year, but in different locations. 






Lastly, let's take a look at Physical North and South

As I mentioned above, a compass needle will be attracted to Magnetic North. So, let's think about this logically. When it comes to magnets, opposites attract. This means the north pole on the magnet (or compass needle) will be attracted to Earth's South Pole. For this reason Earth's Magnetic North is actually its Physical South and its Magnetic South is actually its Physical North.












To summarize, Earth is a like a big magnet with a number of different poles. It has its True North and South which are the North and South Poles, its Magnetic North and South which are slightly off from its True North and South and its Physical North and South which are actually opposite to its Magnetic North and South. 


Reference:
[1] "Illustrative Travel Stock Photo Image." SuperStock. Web. <http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1538R-37026>.

The Energy Ball

On Monday, our physics class got a chance to "play" with some ping-pong balls. These weren't just any ping-pong balls, which Mr. Chung ordered specially from NASA, they were energy ping-pong balls! If you put your fingers on exactly the right location, you could make the balls light up and buzz. How exactly do these magical ping-pong balls work? Well, it's actually quite simple, they use extremely small electric charges. When you place your fingers on the ball, you complete the circuit, allowing the ping-pong ball to light up and make noise. 

There are two types of circuits which we have learned: 

Series Circuits and Parallel Circuits: 
A series circuit is "a circuit in which loads are connected one after another in a single path1" while a parallel circuit is "a circuit in which loads are connected side by side1." In a series circuit, everything is connected together. This means, if one part of the circuit stops working, the whole circuit will stop working. A series circuit needs all components to be in working order for it to function. In a parallel circuit, everything is not connected together. Therefore, if one part of the circuit stops working, it will not effect the whole circuit. A parallel circuit does not need all of its components in working order for it to function2. 

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_5/1.html

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_5/1.html

 

                   

Only For Special Individuals:

After trying out the energy balls, Mr. Chung asked us, why does the energy ball not work on some individuals? In our class experiment, the ball worked for everyone. This leads me to conclude that, in most cases, the ball should work for everybody. However, it may be possible that the reason the ball does not work on some individuals is because the circuit is prevented from being completed due to an insulator on the hand such as cream, lotion or petroleum jelly. Another possibility is that electric charges go through some people more easily than others. If a person has very dry hands, the electric charges will not pass through as easily as someone with moist hands. Water is a conductor so if someone does not have a lot of moisture in the skin on their hands, the ball may not light up for them. If it does work for the person with dry skin, the light and sound the ball makes may be weaker than it would be for someone that does not have dry skin. 

Reflecting Upon Myself:

Everybody has their strengths and their weaknesses. When looking at the learning skills, I realise that I am quite responsible, and work well independently as well as collaborating with others. I easily did the energy ball lab while getting along with my group-mates yet, at the same time, I am able to take initiative and responsibly complete this blog before the due date. The one thing I need to really work on is organization. I find that I am often unorganized and frequently lose sheets of work and forget things. Organization is the one learning skill which I will attempt to really work on this semester.


References:
1. Nowikow, I. (2001). Physics: Concepts and Connections. Toronto: Irwin Publishing Ltd.


2. Series and Parallel Circuits. All About Circuites : Free Electric Circuits Textbooks.     
   Retrieved February 7, 2012  
 http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_5/1.html