Question from Jacaranda (1 Viewer)

[karnoganguli]

The question is :
3. Are the north pole of the Earth and the North pole of a bar magnet of the same polarity? Explain your reasoning.

This is from chapter 6, HSC Jacaranda. I think this is a prelim course question but i could be wrong

 

[idling fire]

Odd question, but anyway...

Not same polarity ->
A bar magnet's north pole is literally a north magnetic pole (ie what is defined to be a north pole) because it is attracted to the geographical North Pole.
However, unlike poles attract, so they must not be the same polarity.

 

[polyspaston]

The north pole of a magnet is its north pole, no tricks there! However, the geographic north pole (where Santa apparently lives) is infact the magnetic south pole. Imagine a bar magnet placed inside the earth. Well, the north pole of that magnet is actually pointing down to the south geographic pole (Antartica). This principle is used in the construction of a compass. The compass possesses a needle or pointer which is essentially a magnet. As with all magnets, it has a north and south pole. The north magnetic pole of the magnet on the compass will always point geographically north as it is attracted to the earth's magnetic south pole.
You can visit http://www.creationevidence.org/scientific_evid/magnetic_fld/magnetic_fld.html for more information.

I hope that helps!