Why a magnet suspends in north south direction

Answer 1

A magnet is suspended in the north-south direction because of its interaction with Earth's magnetic field.

The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core, which behaves like a large bar magnet with a north and south pole. The north magnetic pole of the Earth's field is located near the geographic south pole, and the south magnetic pole of the Earth's field is located near the geographic north pole.

When a magnet is suspended, it aligns itself with the Earth's magnetic field. The north pole of the magnet is attracted to the Earth's geographic north pole, which is actually the south magnetic pole of the Earth's field. Similarly, the south pole of the magnet is attracted to the Earth's geographic south pole, which is actually the north magnetic pole of the Earth's field. This alignment causes the magnet to suspend itself in the north-south direction.

It is important to note that the Earth's magnetic field is not perfectly aligned with the geographic north-south axis. The angle between the magnetic field and the geographic north-south axis is known as magnetic declination, which varies based on location and changes over time. Therefore, the magnet may not align exactly with the geographic north-south axis but will generally point in that direction.