NATS 1745 Chapter 5: Chapter Five Pt. 2, Chapter Six Pt. 1 - February 4, 2014
13 Jul 2014
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In 1600, william gilbert (english physicist) showed: the behaviour of magnetic compass needles can be explained if the earth has a magnetic field like a bar magnet: gilbert"s main fields were electricity and magnetism, since around the 13th century magnetic compass needles were used as navigational tools because it was observed that they would always align themselves in a north south direction, by gilbert"s time it was understood that the earth somehow has the ability to move a compass needle. On the magnet" showed that the behaviour of compass needles can be explained by saying that the earth has a magnetic field: if you sprinkle iron bits around a bar magnet they"re arrange themselves in a pattern that are similar to a tiny compass that reveals the magnetic field around the magnet, the earth"s geographic north pole must be the magnetic south pole (because opposite poles always attract)
