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Magnetism and Matter
Question
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If a compass is taken to magnetic north pole of earth, what will be the direction of the needle?

Answer

Earth’s magnetic field at the poles is exactly in the vertical direction with south pole of compass down side. A compass needle moves freely in a horizontal plane. Therefore, at the pole of the earth the compass needle will not necessarily rest along N-S direction. It may rest in any arbitrary direction in the horizontal plane.

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Some More Questions From Magnetism and Matter Chapter

Answer the following question:
The earth's core is known to contain iron. Yet geologists do not regard this as a source of the earth's magnetism. Why?

Answer the following question:
The charged currents in the outer conducting regions of the earth's core are thought to be responsible for earth's magnetism. What might be the ‘battery’ (i.e., the source of energy) to sustain these currents?

Answer the following question:
The earth may have even reversed the direction of its field several times during its history of 4 to 5 billion years. How can geologists know about the earth's field in such distant past?

Answer the following question:
The earth’s field departs from its dipole shape substantially at large distances (greater than about 30,000 km). What agencies may be responsible for this distortion?

A bar magnet of magnetic moment 1.5 JT–1 lies aligned with the direction of a uniform magnetic field of 0.22 T.
(a) What is the amount of work required by an external torque to turn the magnet so as to align its magnetic moment: (i) normal to the field direction, (ii) opposite to the field direction?
(b)    What is the torque on the magnet in cases (i) and (ii)?