Why does a freely suspended magnet always come to rest in the north-south direction?
Answers
A freely suspended magnet always points in the North-South direction no matter what. This is because the Earth itself behaves as a magnet which causes a freely suspended magnet (or magnetic needle) to point always in North and South. The shape of the Earth's magnetic field resembles that of a bar magnet of length one-fifth of the Earth's diameter buried at its center.
The South Pole of the Earth's magnet is in the geographical North because it attracts the North Pole of the suspended magnet and vice versa. Thus, there is a magnetic S-pole near the geographical North, and a magnetic N-pole near the geographical South. The positions of the Earth's magnetic poles are not well defined on the globe; they are spread over an area. The axis of Earth's magnet and the geographical axis do no coincide. The axis of the Earth's magnetic field is inclined at an angle of about 15 degrees with the geographical axis. Due to this a freely suspended magnet makes an angle of about 15 degrees with the geographical axis and points only approximately in the North-South directions at a place. In other words, a freely suspended magnet does not show exact geographical South and North because the magnetic axis and geographical axis of the Earth do not coincide.
Explanation:
It is due to the influence of the earth magnet. The direction of the earth magnet is in the North-south direction of the earth. The North pole of the earth magnet is near the geographical south pole and south pole is near the geographical north pole. Therefore North of suspended magnet align above the south pole of the earth magnet and vice versa.