Why is there no magnetic south pole?

Earth’s geomagnetic field can be approximated by a tilted dipole (like a bar magnet) placed at the center of Earth. Because the field is not an exact dipole, the south geomagnetic pole does not coincide with the south magnetic pole.

Why does a compass needle always point north and not always balanced parallel to the earth’s surface explain?

explain. the earth’s magnetic field is not always parallel to the surface of the earth-it may have a component perpindicular to the earths surface. the compass will tend to line up with the local direction of the magnetic field, so one end if the compass will dip downward.

Are compasses different in the northern and southern hemisphere?

In the northern hemisphere, the magnetic field dips downward toward the north (the dip angle), which would cause the north-pointing end of the needle to droop downward. Simple compasses for use in the southern hemisphere have the north-pointing end of the needle weighted to prevent this.

Do compasses point to magnetic north?

A magnetic compass does not point to the geographic north pole. A magnetic compass points to the earth’s magnetic poles, which are not the same as earth’s geographic poles. The earth spins around the geographic poles, but magnetic compasses point to the magnetic poles.

Do compasses point to the south pole?

Compass needles are designed to align with Earth’s magnetic field, with the north end of the needle pointing to the magnetic North Pole and the opposite end of the needle pointing to the magnetic South Pole.

Does a compass point to the south pole in the Southern Hemisphere?

No, in the southern hemisphere the same “red painted” end of the compass will still point to the north magnetic pole. If you keep 2 bar magnets together opposite poles attract.

What happens to a compass at the south pole?

In much of Antarctica a compass needle does its best to point straight up, which makes it useless for finding direction. The south magnetic pole is currently about a hundred miles north of the coast of Antarctica, west of Dumont d’Urville Station. At this point a magnetic compass is theoretically completely useless.