I am getting mixed results from the Internet. About 80 percent say it is near the North geographic pole, but there is a significant percent that claim it is at the South geographic Pole.
Where is the North Magnetic Pole?
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@janesix
I think that the clue is in the name.
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@janesix
A magnetic compass points to the earth's magnetic poles, which are not the same as earth's geographic poles. Furthermore, the magnetic pole near earth's geographic north pole is actually the south magnetic pole. When it comes to magnets, opposites attract. This fact means that the north end of a magnet in a compass is attracted to the south magnetic pole, which lies close to the geographic north pole. Magnetic field lines outside of a permanent magnet always run from the north magnetic pole to the south magnetic pole. Therefore, the magnetic field lines of the earth run from the southern geographic hemisphere towards the northern geographic hemisphere.
It is near the south geographic pole. This is the reason the S pole always points south. Opposites attract.
Trust me, if you go to any educational or scholarly website, it will return the same thing.
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@FLRW
@Intellect
Trust me.
Both explanations will probably leave Jane as confused as she was previously.
In general terms, the Magnetic North Pole is variously located around the Geographic North Pole.
What you are referring to, are the effects of magnetic attraction.
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@FLRW
@Intelligence_06
Did you guys already know this, or did you look it up? I am older and we were taught in school that the N magnetic pole was in the North. I have pretty much read that all my life, everywhere. It was only a little while ago that I read something on it on another forum. When I looked around to find out, there were mixed messages, with some seemingly reputable sources saying the North pole.
And how do you know which way is North on a compass? I understand that the lines of magnetic force go from N to S. But how is that established in the first place?
Is all this common knowledge and I'm just stupid? Even my boyfriend who is very smart thought it was the N pole.
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@zedvictor4
That would make sense, but why are people saying it's the opposite?
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@janesix
@zedvictor4
Jeopardy Question: It is near the south geographic pole.
Jeopardy Response: Alex, Where is the North Magnetic Pole?
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@janesix
Look up the word polarity, which basically means opposite.
The Northern point of magnetic attraction is in the North and the South is in the South...Nonetheless their magnetic poles are their opposites.
So technically the North Magnetic Pole is in the South.
But we still regard the Northern point of magnetic attraction as being in the North.
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@janesix
Are you asking
or are you asking
"Where is the magnetic north pole?"
or are you asking
"where is the magnetic pole that has a north polarity?"
It seems like you are asking the first question but most people are answering the second question.
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@Discipulus_Didicit
Isn't that the same thing? If not, please explain.
Like lunar eclipses and colors, magnetics is something I never get, no matter how much time I spend on it.
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@janesix
Magnetic fields are split into two sides called "poles", each of these poles have one of two different "polarities". Every field has one polarity on one side and the opposite polarity on the other side.
These two types of polarities are arbitrarily called "north" and "south". If you ever played with magnets you noticed that they sometimes attract and sometimes repel, this is the reason. Two poles of the same polarity pointing at eachother repel, two poles of opposite polarity pointing at eachother attract.
The Earth produces a magnetic field in it's interior. Like all magnetic fields it has two poles, one of these poles contacts the Earth's crust in the Arctic and the other pole is in the Antarctic.
Like all fields one of the poles has a "north" polarity, the other has a "south" polarity. Again this is a trait of all magnetic fields, not just the Earth's magnetic field. It so happens that the pole in the Antarctic has a "north" polarity while the Arctic pole has a "south" polarity.
The phrase "north magnetic pole" generally refers to the magnetic pole that is in the north. This magnetic pole is near the geographic north pole and has a "south" polarity.
The phrase "south magnetic pole" generally refers to the magnetic pole that is in the south. This magnetic pole is near the geographic south pole and has a "north" polarity.
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@Discipulus_Didicit
So what makes a pole north or south? The direction the field is flowing (like, in at the top, out at the bottom)?
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@janesix
You are absolutely correct. The field lines flow out from the northern polarity and into the southern polarity. In the case of the magnetic field generated by the Earth's interior the field lines flow out from the magnetic pole in Antarctica and into the pole in the Arctic.
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@Discipulus_Didicit
Thank you, I get it now.