Difference Between North Pole and South Pole

North Pole vs South Pole

North Pole and South Pole are two very important topics in magnetism. These concepts are extremely valuable when it comes to the fields like navigation, physics, electromagnetic theory, electrical engineering, power generation and various other fields. It is compulsory to have a clear understanding in these concepts in order to excel in such fields. In this article, we are going to discuss what magnetism is, what North Pole and South Pole are, their definitions, if there are any, their similarities and finally the difference between the North Pole and South Pole.

To understand what North Pole and South Pole are, the concept of magnetic flux (magnetic field lines) is required.

What is Magnetic Flux?

Magnets were discovered by Chinese and Greeks in the period of 800 B.C. to 600 B.C. In 1820, Hand Christian Oersted, a Danish physicist discovered that a current carrying wire causes a compass needle to orient perpendicular to the wire. This is known as the induction magnetic field. A magnetic field is always caused by a moving charge. (i.e. a time varying electric field). The permanent magnets are the result of electron spins of atoms combining together to create a net magnetic field. To understand the concept of magnetic flux one must first understand the concept of magnetic field lines. Magnetic field lines or magnetic lines of forces are a set of imaginary lines, which are drawn from N (north) pole of the magnet to the S (south) pole of the magnet. In definition, these lines never cross each other unless the magnetic field intensity is zero. It must be noted that magnetic lines of forces are a concept. They do not exist in real life. It is a model, which is convenient to compare magnetic fields qualitatively. The magnetic flux over a surface is said to be proportional to the number of magnetic lines of forces perpendicular to the given surface. The Gauss’ law, Ampere law and Biot-Savart law are the three most important laws when calculating the magnetic flux over a surface. It can be proved that net magnetic flux over a closed surface is always zero using the Gauss’ law. This is very important because this shows that magnetic poles always occur in pairs. Magnetic monopoles cannot be found. This also suggests that every magnetic field line must terminate. The magnetic flux density of a magnet is a maximum at the North Pole and South Pole.