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Re: [Phys-l] Movie Physics Gafs

I think that the N-seeking terminology is not not just confusing but it is totally WRONG ! ! !
(I MIGHT be able to accept northward pointing)

There are WAY many more compasses in the world than there are worlds - so the compass label WINS.

In fairness to the geographers in the world, yes North is a fine direction.
It just shouldn't be confused with magnets.

An interesting note is that the 'original' Chinese 'compass' is a spoon shape that balances on its bowl and the handle points southwards.
.
At 2:34 PM -0500 9/12/11, John Clement wrote:
I think that the terminology N seeking is
actually confusing, and just using N and S provides cognitively lower load.
The big problem is that students want to label the ends of magnets as + and
-, which again plays into the misconception that electrical and magnetic
forces are the same.