Re: DO NOT REPLY. TEXTBOOK MISCONCEPTIONS

[William Beaty <billb@eskimo.com>]

On Thu, 12 Feb 1998, Herbert H. Gottlieb wrote:

> > 14) The Earth's "N" pole actually resides in the southern hemisphere
>
> This statement is very misleading.

No, because the definition of "n-type magnet pole" may not be what one
would expect.  By the definition found in physics books, the end of a
compass which points to the north, contains an "n-type" pole.  Since
opposite poles attract, the northern hemisphere of the earth can be
regarded as containing an "s-type" pole.

> If it were true that the Earth's North
> pole
> resides in the southern hemisphere, the Southern hemisphere would have 
> been called the Northern hemisphere.

Or alternativly:  if ancient peoples understood magnets, they would have
placed an "S" on the end of a compass needle which points towards the
north.  Then we could properly place a big "N" on the earth's northern
hemisphere.  But they put the "N" on the wrong end of the compass needle,
and physics has taken the compass needle for being a permanent magnet, and
preserved the "N" and "S" lables when defining magnetic poles.



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