Re: Earth's Magnetic Field

[Larry Smith <Larry.Smith@SNOW.EDU>]

At 3:05 PM -0600 5/10/1999, Maurice Barnhill wrote:
> Their explanation seems to be a long-winded way of saying that they have
> deliberately labelled their magnetizer so that it makes mislabelled
> magnets.  Sheesh!

That was my impression as well.

> The whole business is easy if you recognize that the magnetic pole of
> the Earth which is located in the northern part of the planet is a
> *south*-seeking pole. It therefore attracts the opposite poles of
> compasses, the north-seeking poles.  This way the north poles of
> compasses point roughly north and navigators go in the right direction.

I'm confused by your "seeking" suffix.  I would agree with your whole
paragraph if you left out the "seeking" everywhere.  To me, the end of a
bar magnet or a compass needle (both labeled with the same convention, in
my opinion, contrary to the magnetizer instructions) with an "N" on it
should point to the arctic, geographic North pole (magnetic south pole) of
the earth.

The "seeking" part seems to confuse the issue.

> The convention with respect to the direction of flux, out of
> north-seeking poles and into south-seeking poles, also works with the
> Earth's poles; *provided that you recognize that the south-seeking pole
> is the one in Canada.*  In the northern (magnetic) hemisphere, the
> Earth's magnetic field point northward and *down*.

Field lines go from N to S _outside_ the magnet, but from S to N inside the
magnet.  At least that is the "convention" I've been teaching.

Cheers,
Larry Smith