A freely suspended magnet always points in north-south direction:

For Example:

  • Take a bar magnet and tie it with a thread , let it hang from a wooden stand , it is called a freely suspended magnet.
  • Now, move the magnet , after some time it comes to rest. We see that one end of the magnet is pointing towards the North direction . This is called the North Pole of the Magnet.
  • Similarly, the other side points towards the south direction. It is known as the South pole of Magnet.

 

Finding Directions

  • Property of a freely suspended magnet is to align itself in the North-South direction.
  • Travellers on land and sea used this property of magnet to find directions. 
  • Travellers used to carry natural magnets and thread along with them, they used to find directions by suspending the magnets with a thread.
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Maninder Singh's photo - Co-founder, Teachoo

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Maninder Singh

CA Maninder Singh is a Chartered Accountant for the past 14 years and a teacher from the past 18 years. He teaches Science, Economics, Accounting and English at Teachoo