The bar magnet, which by the way is pronounced ba-lee-motive, can be surprising amounts of fun to use. Look at that thing: It has a free floating, curved holder that sits on a needle. Place a bar magnet on top of it and watch the fun science take place. A little bit of physics and some international students in it seems to be a match made in heaven.
Let’s say that you are studying in Scotland. You will need to know how to get to the southern hemisphere using your Compass. This isn’t an easy task, but it can be done with the help of a magnet. It uses the concept of magnetic force along with gravity to give us our compass. Geomagnetic north poles along with polar magnets will help align our magnetic field along with the north pole and the south pole of our Compass.
A bar magnet has two sides. On one side they have small magnetic fields that cause a current which is why they are called conductors. On the other side they have large magnetic fields that cause a different current. These magnetic fields are electric currents, just like we get from the electricity we use in our homes. Because of this, a magnetism is able to create a large amount of alternating magnetic fields which are known as monopoles.
An electrical current will flow through a conductor if there is a way to make the two sides of a bar magnet meet. For that reason, the south end of one magnet will always face the north pole while the other faces the south pole. That way, when a current flows through them both, they will generate the same amount of energy. One way to describe the way a magnetism generates electricity is by using the analogy of a battery. The battery will store power when it is filled with water and release it when the water is fully charged.
A bar magnet can be thought of as the positive charge and the earth as the negative charge. Because these two forces are in constant motion, it creates an enormous amount of energy that is called magnetism. This energy will move the electrons in your body from the earth into the metal you are holding in your hand. The more metal you hold, the more the energy will move. So, it can be said that the earth acts like a battery and the bar magnet as an electric generator.
Another important thing to know about the earth and your bar magnet is that these two objects are constantly moving relative to each other. This movement is what causes the geomagnetic fields to fluctuate. This movement is called the Earth’s orbit around the sun, known as the solar wind. While this fluctuation is natural, we have been conditioned from birth by our creators to expect it to be present. If the earth is not constantly moving, there would be no such thing as a geomagnetic field because the magnetic fields would have no energy to move with the Earth.
Now let’s get down to the real explanation, step by step. Let’s say the needle of your compass points north. If the needle of your compass points south, then the magnet on your hands is pulling the needle of your compass ever so slightly to the south. That small change in direction adds up over time, causing the large energy shift.
If the needle points south, but the magnet on your hand continues to push the needle of your compass North, then the earth is very nearly on a circular orbit around the sun. So, the earth moves on its axis about once every 6 months. This slight elongation of the planet’s axis is what causes the small variations in the geomagnetic field. So, think of the magnet as a little spring that keeps rolling, pushing on and pulling on the needle of your compass until it finally slips into an endless circular orbit around the sun, which is why the magnetic field is referred to as a geomagnetic field.