Earth’s Magnetic Field

(a) The magnetic field of a bar magnet is revealed by the alignment of iron filings on paper. (b) Although Earth does not
contain a bar magnet, its rotation, combined with moving electric charges in its core, creates an equivalent field. Note that the
field is not aligned with Earth’s rotation axis. By convention, the magnetic pole near Earth’s north rotation axis is called
the magnetic north pole even though it is actually the south pole on a magnet! We will see similar misalignments and
flipped magnetic fields when we study other planets