Eli5 – How/why does the earths magnetic pole flip?

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Eli5 – How/why does the earths magnetic pole flip?

In: Physics

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The Earth’s core is filled with liquid iron. Because the Earth rotates, liquid iron flows back and forth (so called “convection currents”).

As an electrically conductive fluid flows, it generates an electromagnetic field (electric field + magnetic field, related to one another).

That’s why the Earth’s core is magnetic: liquid iron flows and this generates a magnetic field.

Fluids motion can be pretty complex, especially when it’s moving in a rotating planet. Some mathematical models show that in this kind of situation, the resulting magnetic field can randomly flip at times.