The south pole of the freely suspended magnet points towards -------?a...
The earth behaves as a magnetic dipole . Therefore a freely suspended magnet always points towards in the north-south direction because the south pole of the suspended magnet attracts the north pole of the earth's magnet which is the geographical south pole of the earth.
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The south pole of the freely suspended magnet points towards -------?a...
The south pole of a freely suspended magnet points towards the geographical North. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but it can be explained through the concept of magnetic poles and their interaction with the Earth's magnetic field.
- Magnetic Poles: A magnet has two poles, a north pole and a south pole. These poles have opposite charges and attract each other. Like poles repel each other, while opposite poles attract.
- Earth's Magnetic Field: The Earth itself acts as a giant magnet with its own magnetic field. The Earth's magnetic field is generated by the movement of molten iron in its outer core. The magnetic field lines extend from the geographic South Pole to the geographic North Pole.
- Magnetic North and South Poles: The Earth's magnetic field is not perfectly aligned with its geographic axis. The magnetic North Pole is actually located near the geographic South Pole, and the magnetic South Pole is near the geographic North Pole.
- Interaction between Magnet and Earth's Magnetic Field: When a freely suspended magnet is influenced by the Earth's magnetic field, its north pole is attracted to the Earth's magnetic South Pole (which is near the geographic North Pole), and its south pole is attracted to the Earth's magnetic North Pole (which is near the geographic South Pole).
- South Pole Points towards Geographical North: Due to the attraction between the south pole of the magnet and the Earth's magnetic North Pole, the south pole of the magnet points towards the geographic North Pole. This is the correct answer to the given question.
- Explanation in Detail: The magnet aligns itself with the Earth's magnetic field so that its opposite poles are closest to each other. This alignment allows the magnet to minimize its potential energy and stabilize its position. Hence, the south pole of the magnet points towards the geographic North Pole.
To summarize, the south pole of a freely suspended magnet points towards the geographic North Pole due to the attractive interaction between opposite magnetic poles.
The south pole of the freely suspended magnet points towards -------?a...
B
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