Name: Magnetic Compass
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 2 min
Description: What would you need most if you were lost in a desert during the night? Well, some water, a jacket, and most importantly, a magnetic compass to find the dire...

Question

Describe a simple experiment to show that a freely suspended magnet always aligns itself in a particular direction.

Accepted Answer

If a freely suspended magnet is allowed to rotate, it comes to rest such that it is aligned in the Earth's North-South direction.
Materials needed: A ruler, a book, a table, a bar magnet, a string, a magnetic compass, a sheet of white paper, and adhesive tape.
Method:
1. Take a sheet of paper and stick it on the table. Mark the directions on the paper with the help of a magnetic compass.
2. Take a string and tie the one end to the middle portion of the bar magnet and the other end to the ruler.

3. Now place the ruler on the table and place any heavy book on the ruler, so it does not slip off the table. Make sure that the magnet can move freely.
4. Leave the magnets without disturbing for a while and observe the direction in which it comes to rest. Now compare this with the directions you have marked on the paper with the help of a magnetic compass. We can see that the magnet comes to rest in a North-South direction.

Describe a simple experiment to show that a freely suspended magnet always aligns itself in a particular direction.

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