Concerning Earth's magnetic poles, which would be negative and which would be positive?

Question

For instance, is the North Magnetic Pole negative or positive? Or am I completely off track here?

Answer 1

Poles are described as north and south. Positive and negative relate to electrical charge, not magnetism. To answer your question, the North Magnetic Pole is a magnetic south pole. It is called north because it attracts the north end of magnetic compass needles. Similarly, the South Magnetic is magnetically north.

Answer 2

You are confusing magnetism with electricity.

Magnets have poles, which are designated 'north' and 'south', because it was noted centuries ago that some materials were magnetic, and aligned themselves pointing north-south (a compass needle is a magnet). Because of the structure of the earth, which acts like a large magnet, its magnetic 'poles' are close to the rotation of the earth's axis (which is a natural result of the earth having an iron rich core), hence 'north' and 'south' poles).

Electricity has positive and negative charges, because electrical current is the flow of negatively charged electrons (as againdt the positivley charged protons). Because electrons can move freely (whereas the positive protons are fixed in the atomic nucleus), they produce electric current. (Interstingly, by convention, electric current is taken to move from the positive terminal to the negative terminal; whereas the electrons actually move in the opposite direction).

Electricity and magnetism are related, and were combined in one 'electromagnetic theory' by the very clever physicist and mathematician J C Maxwell in the 1860's.
A moving magnet will produce an electric current in a conductor (the theory of the dynamo), and a moving electric current will produce an electomagnetic force on a magnet; the principle of the electric motor.

If you were interested in learning some basics about electromagnetism, I suggest you consult a smaller encyclopaedia in the first instance. Textbooks on electromagnetic theory are notoriously difficult, and very mathematical.

Answer 3

The polarity of the earth changes every now and then...I think I read somewhere once that it happens every 20,000 years. North is not always positive...but at the moment I think it is.