Eli5 : What is the difference between the Geomagnetic poles and the Magnetic poles of the Earth?
In: Physics
The geomagnetic poles are a theoretical approximation of the magnetic poles. The magnetic field of the Earth is not a nice uniform field. The Earth core and mantle consists of various different types of rock in different magnetic orientations and is constantly moving so the magnetic field is actually quite chaotic. It is not as chaotic as the magnetc field of the Sun but the principle is similar. But this makes it very hard to model as there is no simple formula for calculating the magnetic field but instead you have to map it out. So when we want to model the magnetic field but without all that complexity we use the geomagnetic model which is an approximation of the magnetic field of the Earth but assumes the uniform field of a simple bar magnet instead. For most purpuses this is a sufficient model and much easier to use.
Latest Answers