What Are Magnetic Poles?

Many people who are new to the world of magnets will have such a question: what are magnetic poles? In short, the most magnetic part of the magnet is called the magnetic pole. No matter how small a magnet is, it still has two magnetic poles. You can gently rotate a bar magnet on a smooth horizontal plane. When the magnet stops, one pole always points south and the other north. The pole pointing south is called the South Pole (S pole), and the pole pointing north is called the North Pole (N pole). Magnetic poles of the same name repel each other, and magnetic poles of different names attract each other.

Are There Monopole Magnets?

The magnetic poles of any magnet always appear in pairs. Even if you fold a magnet into two segments, you still cannot separate its north pole from its south pole. Because when a magnet is folded into two sections, each half of the magnet has its own north and south poles. Therefore, we can say that there are no monopole magnets.

The Magnetic Poles of the Earth

The earth is a huge magnet, and it also has two magnetic poles. The location of these two magnetic poles is very close to the south pole and north pole of the earth. People call the magnetic pole near the north pole of the earth as the geomagnetic south pole, and the other magnetic pole is called the geomagnetic north pole.

Consequences of Earth’s Magnetic Pole Reversal

The consequences of the reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles are quite serious and will affect the entire nature. Experts point out that the greatest consequence caused by the reversal of the earth’s magnetic poles is the intense solar radiation.

Under normal circumstances, cosmic rays will be engulfed by the earth’s magnetic field in space. However, once the Earth’s magnetic field disappears during the reversal of the Earth’s poles, the solar particle storms will slam the Earth’s atmosphere, which will have a fatal impact on the Earth’s climate and lives on Earth.

This change will bring great danger to spacecraft such as satellites, because the earth’s magnetic field protects the satellite from high-energy radiation from outer space, like putting a layer of radiation protection clothing on satellites and other spacecraft. If this day really comes, some low-orbiting satellites will be completely exposed to the blow of the solar electromagnetic storm, and will soon be completely destroyed.

In addition, many creatures that rely on the earth’s magnetic field to navigate, such as swallows, antelopes, whales, pigeons, and magnetotactic bacteria, will become disoriented.

Conclusion 

Thank you for reading our article and we hope it can help you have a better understanding of what are magnetic poles. If you want to know more about magnets, we would like to advise you to visit Stanford Magnets for more information.

Stanford Magnets is a leading magnet supplier across the world who has been involved in R&D, manufacturing, and sales of magnets since the 1990s. It provides customers with high-quality rare earth permanent magnetic products such as neodymium magnets, and other non-rare earth permanent magnets at a very competitive price.