The Earth’s Magnetic Field

North and South The north pole of the magnet … …points to the north pole of the Earth S When you hang a bar magnet from a thread so that it can spin around, it always ends up pointing the same way. When we use a tiny magnet to point to north it is called a COMPASS. thread

The Earth’s Magnetic Field N S compass needle A compass needle points north because the earth is surrounded by its MAGNETIC FIELD. This magnetic field is caused by the Earth’s inner core spinning around. It makes it seems as if the Earth has a giant magnet inside it But the south pole of the giant magnet is at the north pole of the Earth

Magnetic Field Lines We use Magnetic Field Lines to show the shape of the Earth’s magnetic field. The arrows on the lines always point towards north and away from south the same as a compass would. S N