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>.