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Because of the Magnetic North Pole, a point on the Earth's Northern Hemisphere

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Why should you always follow North on a compass?

Well, you don't really have to follow North on a compass. A compass indicates North because it is influenced by the Earth's magnetic field. Now if you know exactly the direction of North, you can deduce the directions of South, East and West.


If you have an unmarked bar magnet how can you find out which end is the north pole?

Stand somewhere where you know which way is north (get a map, find yourself on it, face a landmark which is about north (or south) which is marked on the map) The north seeking pole will be the one facing the same way as you.Alternately you can find a magnet marked with N and S and use that.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>This is sadly half an answer. If you stand with a magnetic compass on the ground (assuming no other interference) then yes, you should be able to determine magnetic north.However maps are (in the most part) aligned to True North....which is not always the same as magnetic north. In the UK it's different by up to 10 degrees off. Go to South Africa/Madagascar and you're talking 20-30 degrees off.All this has to do with the fact that the magnetic and north poles are not in the same location - in fact they are just under 600 miles apart and change as the years go by.If you stand on the ground with a map aligned to true north however AND know the variation (that is the difference in degrees between true and magnetic north) then yes, you should be able to point to both with a bit of maths!Better AnswerUse a compass. It's needle will point to the magnet's south pole.


Why is magnetic Declination is important?

Because if you need to use your compass to figure out which direction is north,then you need to know by how much the direction the compass points is wrong,and which way. That's the magnetic declination.


How do you know that earth behaves like a huge bar magnet?

Earth behaves like a huge bar magnet because it has a magnetic field created by the movement of molten iron in its core. This magnetic field can be detected and measured using compasses, satellites, and ground-based instruments, confirming Earth's magnetism. The magnetic field is responsible for phenomena such as the auroras and guides compass needles to align with the magnetic north and south poles.


Why does a compass needle always point to magetic north?

The simple answer is that the magnetized needle is being attracted by the North Magnetic Pole (which is close to, but not the same as the geographic North Pole).However, the colored part of the needle is not actually drawn to the North, although that would be the result of unlike charges being drawn together. The actual effect is that the needle aligns itself with the parallel lines of magnetism connecting the North and South magnetic poles, so that it lines up North and South, its northern end pointed north and its southern end pointed south.The Earth's magnetic field is generated by the movement of its iron core in relation to the crust.No matter where you stand on Earth, you can hold a compass in your hand and it will point toward the North Pole. What an unbelievably neat and amazing thing! Imagine that you are in the middle of the ocean, and you are looking all around you in every direction and all you can see is water, and it is overcast so you cannot see the sun... How in the world would you know which way to go unless you had a compass to tell you which way is "up"? Long before GPS satellites and other high-tech navigational aids, the compass gave humans an easy and inexpensive way to orient themselves.But what makes a compass work the way it does? And why is it useful for detecting small magnetic fields, as we saw in How Electromagnets Work? In this article, we will answer all of these questions, and we'll also see how to create a compass from scratch!A compass is an extremely simple device. A magnetic compass (as opposed to a gyroscopic compass) consists of a small, lightweight magnet balanced on a nearly frictionless pivot point. The magnet is generally called a needle. One end of the needle is often marked "N," for north, or colored in some way to indicate that it points toward north. On the surface, that's all there is to a compass.The reason why a compass works is more interesting. It turns out that you can think of the Earth as having a gigantic bar magnet buried inside. In order for the north end of the compass to point toward the North Pole, you have to assume that the buried bar magnet has its south end at the North Pole, as shown in the diagram at the right. If you think of the world this way, then you can see that the normal "opposites attract" rule of magnets would cause the north end of the compass needle to point toward the south end of the buried bar magnet. So the compass points toward the North Pole.To be completely accurate, the bar magnet does not run exactly along the Earth's rotational axis. It is skewed slightly off center. This skew is called the declination, and most good maps indicate what the declination is in different areas (since it changes a little depending on where you are on the planet).The magnetic field of the Earth is fairly weak on the surface. After all, the planet Earth is almost 8,000 miles in diameter, so the magnetic field has to travel a long way to affect your compass. That is why a compass needs to have a lightweight magnet and a frictionless bearing. Otherwise, there just isn't enough strength in the Earth's magnetic field to turn the needle.The "big bar magnet buried in the core" analogy works to explain why the Earth has a magnetic field, but obviously that is not what is really happening. So what is really happening?No one knows for sure, but there is a working theory currently making the rounds. As seen on the above, the Earth's core is thought to consist largely of molten iron (red). But at the very core, the pressure is so great that this superhot iron crystallizes into a solid. Convection caused by heat radiating from the core, along with the rotation of the Earth, causes the liquid iron to move in a rotational pattern. It is believed that these rotational forces in the liquid iron layer lead to weak magnetic forces around the axis of spin.It turns out that because the Earth's magnetic field is so weak, a compass is nothing but a detector for very slight magnetic fields created by anything. That is why we can use a compass to detect the small magnetic field produced by a wire carrying a currentThe Core of our earth is molten iron, and it's spinning really friggen fast. That spin of the iron creates a large electro-magnetic field. Similar to a small bar magnet, it has two poles. The needle in the compas will be attracted to the pull of the northpoleansw2. your compass needle just aligns itself with the lines of magnetic force in your vicinity. Which in turn are influenced by the position of the poles.because of the poles magnetic fieldA compass needle aligns itself to the earth's magnetic field. The direction of the earth's magnetic extends from the earth's Magnetic South to its Magnetic North. Remember, the terms 'Magnetic North' and 'Magnetic South' refer to LOCATIONS in the Arctic and Antarctic, respectively, and not to the magnetic polarities at these locations. Because 'unlike poles attract', this means that the polarity of Magnetic North is a south pole, thus attracting the north (coloured) pole of a compass needle.The iron core of the Earth acts like a giant bar magnet buried in the Earth.Since that giant bar magnet is pointing South, opposites attract and the magnetized needle points North.

Related Questions

Why does the needle in the compass point towards north?

I don't know anything


Why does a compass point in different directions?

Its ovious why a compass points in different directions. For example, if your going north, the compass points north because your going that direction. Theres also a magnet concealed in the compass. How does the compass know what direction yoiur going. Earth it self is a magnet. When you head that direction, it will point


Why should you always follow North on a compass?

Well, you don't really have to follow North on a compass. A compass indicates North because it is influenced by the Earth's magnetic field. Now if you know exactly the direction of North, you can deduce the directions of South, East and West.


How does a compass know north from south?

A compass works by aligning itself with the Earth's magnetic field. One end of the compass needle is attracted to the Earth's magnetic north pole, which is near the geographical north pole. This alignment allows the compass needle to point north-south accurately.


What did the Roman army use as a compass?

Romans did not have compasses, however did know of the pole star (which always is directly north).


How do you know that this is north?

Because if you have a compass it will have north pointing up


Does the black arrow on a compass point to the north or south?

It depends on a choice made by the person who made your compass; there's no universal standard. The easiest way to find out is to take the compass somewhere that you know which direction is north (at least to within 10 or 15 degrees), and see what way the arrow points.


Sammy tells his mother he will be back at 5 PM but he was almost an hour late His excuse is that his compass was pointing west How does she know he is lying?

The needle on a compass will almost always point north. However, small compasses are notoriously vulnerable to strong local magnetic fields (industrial, MRI medical, and other devices). One of those fields could have affected or even ruined his compass.


What uses a compass?

the use of an compass is to know what direction your going in such as north,south,east,or west


What did the explores use a compass for?

A compass is used to determine the location of the magnetic north and south poles of the Earth, and from that be able to always know or select direction of travel. That information also assists in the creation of maps.


Why is a compass rose included on map?

So you know which direction North is. You can use the compass rose to give or follow directions.


What makes the needle on the compass always pointy north?

We know that it is a natural property for a magnet to attract unlike poles Earth itself is a bar magnet..So there is a tiny magnet in the compass which makes it to get attracted to north pole (i.e-Magnetic south pole is Geographic North pole,Magnetic North pole is Geographic South pole)That is -when compass is pointing North pole(magnectically)It is pointing Geographic South pole... Thanks**** Hope it was helpful!!!!