Question

Why does a compass always point to the north?
(A) The compass is made of magnetic material
(B) The compass is a magnet with the pointer as the south seeking pole
(C) The compass is a magnet with the pointer as the north seeking pole
(D) The compass is an electromagnet that is charged by rubbing when the needle is turning

Answer 1

Hint: Compass is a freely rotating magnetized arrow shaped metal or basically an arrow shaped magnet. The head of the compass is its south pole and the tail is the north pole. Earth also has a magnetic field according to which a compass aligns itself.

Complete step-by-step answer:
A compass was invented by a Chinese Han Dynasty in 206 B.C. It was later adopted by the Shang Dynasty in the \[{11^{th}}\] Century for navigation. A compass always points towards the North because the compass is magnet with the tail of it magnetized to become the north pole and the head/pointy side is the south pole. Now when allowed to align freely, the south pole of the compass i.e. the head of the compass will try to get closer to the magnetic north pole of the Earth. And the tail will tend to point to the magnetic south.

Additional information: Every magnet has two poles: North Pole and South Pole. We already know that like poles repel each other and unlike poles attract each other. Our Earth behaves like a huge magnet. It interacts with other magnets; due to this interaction the North Pole of the magnets attracts the Magnetic North Pole of the Earth because of the Earth’s magnetic field. That’s why every magnet rests in the north south direction.

Note:
It is very much possible for one to get confused while naming the poles on a compass. But remember one thing. The south of the magnet points to the north of Earth. This means that the head of the compass is the south pole of the compass.
A compass is very useful for navigation. A compass does not ACTUALLY point towards the “true North pole”. It points towards the “magnetic north pole” of the earth. The magnetic north pole and the geographical north pole of the earth are two very different things. Earth’s magnetic pole is not stationary. Earth’s magnetic north pole lies 1000 miles south to the true North Pole.