Regular compasses point only to the north magnetic pole, but if you had a magnetic dip meter (or a smartphone with the appropriate app), you could also measure the angle of the magnetic field at your location in the up-and-down sense. Source: Karla Panchuk (2018) CC BY-SA 4.0, modified after Steven Earle (2015) CC BY-SA 4.0 view source, and T. The red and white compass needles represent the orientation of the magnetic field at various locations on EarthвЂ™s surface. The south pole of the magnet points to EarthвЂ™s magnetic north pole. Figure 3.15 EarthвЂ™s magnetic field depicted as the field of a bar magnet coinciding with the core. Everywhere in between, the magnetic force is at an intermediate angle to the surface. At the north and south poles, the force is vertical. The tilt, or inclination of magnetic field lines is represented by the tilt of compass needles in Figure 3.15. Because of the shape of the field lines, the magnetic force is oriented at different angles to the surface in different locations. Because iron is a metal and conducts electricity (even when molten), its motion generates a magnetic field.Д®arthвЂ™s magnetic field is defined by north and south poles representing lines of magnetic force flowing into Earth in the northern hemisphere and out of Earth in the southern hemisphere (Figure 3.15). EarthвЂ™s liquid iron core convects because it is heated from beneath by the inner core.

Magnetic fieldlines in earth iron cor