Just want to know why a magnet points north. Plus if anyone knows why they call it 'north', 'east', 'south', and 'west' that will be good too. Thanks :)
2007-01-30 13:04:48 · 5 answers · asked by aunty_sar 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Magnetism. The magnet attracts to the North pole so it always points to the north. If you put a compass near a magnet it will go crazy and stop working.
2007-01-30 13:27:43 · answer #1 · answered by Klingon Atheist 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A magnet points north because the north magnetic pole (which is not the true North Pole) attracts the south pole of the magnet.
The pointer in the compass is constructed so that the hand is suspended and can swing around to always point to magnetic north.
The terms north, south, east, and west are all from ancient languages (Greek, Roman, and Chinese most likely) that have degraded and changed over time to the words we use today (just like most of the English language).
2007-01-30 13:12:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The earth is actually a giant magnet (not a very strong one but strong enough to use a compass). If you know anything about electromagnatism, you know that opposits attract. Negative/positive electric charges and north/south magnetic poles attract to each other. The needle of a compass is actually a tiny magnet with the north arrow being the south pole of the magnet and the south arrow being the north pole of the magnet. The needle points north because the south pole in the compass is attracted to the north pole of the earth, and vice versa with the north pole of the compass attracted to the south pole of the earth.
2007-01-30 13:15:13 · answer #3 · answered by Roman Soldier 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Sam have a stable clarify concerning the Earth middle as a magnet. I basically can upload 3 information: a million.- A compass have 2 extremes. One factor to the North and the 2nd to the South 2.- The geographic poles are diverse than the magnetic poles. in case you would be interior the North Pole, the compass will factor South, to an island in Canada, the place is the magnetic pole (seventy seven'6N, a hundred'0W). Santa knows this reality. interior the South you're transforming into an analogous distinction. The Magnetic Pole falls interior the Pacific Ocean, six hundred miles away and out of doorways the Antarctica. 3.- especially situations the magnetic poles can 'bounce' to the choice area... the North will become South and viceversa. The statistic frequency for this modification is approximately 3 tens of millions years.
2016-12-13 04:56:19 · answer #4 · answered by killeen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interestigly, we named the direction shown by the first magnetic needle as NORTH.
North Pole of the earth is actually the south pole of the earth's magnetism!
Why does sun always rise in east... WE started to call it east. sun does not know about it!
2007-01-31 03:41:32 · answer #5 · answered by RMG 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋