How many different norths are there?

Question

I know there is true north and magnetic north but whats the difference. Are ther any other norths?

Answer 1

True north points toward the axis of the earth's rotation.
Magnetic north points toward the magnetic north pole, where the magnetic flux lines converge, in extreme northeastern Canada.
Compass north is what's indicated by the 'N' on a ship's compass, which deviates from magnetic north because of anomalies in the earth's magnetic field caused by iron and magnetite geology and by iron and magnetic fields aboard the ship.

North is wherever is farther north than you are.

North is the northern portion of whatever you're talking about (your town, your state, your country, your continent).

Answer 2

The reason for the 2 different norths is because the axis the earth rotates on is not the same as the magnetic axis and yes, there are other norths.

When you look at a globe true north (the geographic north pole) is the very top inside the arctic circle. That is the top of the earth on the axis it rotates on.

What we call magnetic north is actually Geomagnetic north and that is where the earths magnetic field enters the earth. It is located in greenland however that is not the actual north pole.

The actual north pole is located in the southern hemisphere opposite Greenland because on a magnet the magnetic field is said to leave the north pole and enter the south pole (so geomagnetic north is the south pole.)

There is also the dip north pole, which is where the compass needle points. This point varies over time but is currently in northern canada.

The magnetic field has also reversed polarity over time so the north and south poles have flipped. At that time the north pole would be the same as geomagnetic north.

So as far as I know you have 4 norths: geographic, geomagnetic, the north pole (in the southern hemisphere), and magnetic dip.

Answer 3

There are FIVE Norths.

1.The Geographic North pole, also referred to as the true North. This is the end point of the rotationg axis of the Earth. This is the northernmost point AND this is what we usually mean when we say the North.

2.The magnetic North pole, which is the magnetic pole caused by the Earth's rotating metallic core. The funny thing is that the magnetic dipoles are named, by custom, according to whichever geographic pole they are close to. So, right now, the magnetic North pole is actually the Southern dipole moment, because it is close to the geographic North pole. The magnetic North pole is constantly changing by the way at the rate of about 10km/year. Right now it is in Canada somewhere and over the next few decades, it will go over the North pole and into Siberia. This is pretty scary because the last time the magnetic poles reversed...let us just say that it left a mark on our planet...about 500,000 years ago.

3.The Geophysical North pole, used to clarify the ambiguity caused by the magnetic poles (which is used by navigators most often). The geophysical north pole is the magnetic south pole.

4.The Geomagnetic North pole, marks the North end of the Earth's magnetosphere (the giant magnetic field surrounding the Earth) which is somewhere over Greenland and doesn't even effect compasses that much.

5.The Northern pole of inaccessibility is defined as the point in the Artic furthest away from any coastline. Similiar poles exist in the Pacific, Indian Oceans, and Antarctic.

Answer 4

You are right, there are two norths.
True North - north used for maps
Magnetic north - the actual north that a compass points to based on where the magnetic field leads it

When you set a compass you set it off the amount of degrees difference between true north and mag north so when you get a reading and look at a map it makes sense.

Answer 5

I've heard of 3:

"True" North - based on the position of the North Star in our sky, which is constantly changing, though only by a fraction of a degree every decade.

"Grid North" which currently matches "true" North, but hasn't always done so - it's what our maps are based on.

"Magnetic North" which can be found using a compass

Answer 6

Magnetic North is constantly changing, It swings from side to side (maybe around 10 degrees) every 10 years or so.

I think the North represented on maps is an average of this magnetic swing, and is slightly different to true north, which is the point at which the earth spins.

Answer 7

true north is just that, straight up, but since there are a large amount of iron deposits and other minerals around the same area thats magntic north. A compass won't lead you to the north pole, instead it will lead you to the large deposits to the west of the north pole.

Answer 8

Ollie North!

Answer 9

yes the other north is called south