The north pole of a compass is attracted to the north magnetic pole of the earth, yet like poles repel. Can you resolve this apparent dilemma?
The northern magnetic pole of the Earth is really a south magnetic pole, if you define polarity on the basis of the magnetic field lines that emerge.
Certainly! The apparent dilemma you mentioned arises from a misconception about how magnets work. Let me explain:
A compass consists of a tiny magnetized needle that is free to rotate. This needle aligns itself with the Earth's magnetic field, with one end pointing towards the Earth's magnetic north pole. The Earth itself behaves like a giant bar magnet, with its magnetic south pole near the geographic North Pole and its magnetic north pole near the geographic South Pole.
Now, here's the key concept: opposite magnetic poles attract each other, while like poles repel. This means that the north pole of a magnet is attracted to the south pole of another magnet, and vice versa. So, if we consider the Earth's magnetic field as a magnet, its magnetic north pole is actually the south pole (in terms of magnetism).
As a result, the north pole of a compass, being magnetically attracted to the Earth's magnetic south pole, aligns itself to point towards what we consider the geographic North Pole.
To sum it up, the compass's north pole is attracted to the Earth's magnetic south pole (geographic North Pole), not the Earth's magnetic north pole (geographic South Pole). This is due to the fact that opposite magnetic poles attract, while like poles repel.