The last determination of the North Magnetic Pole's average position was made in 1994. The magnetic pole wanders daily in an elliptical path around the average pole's position. When the magnetic field of the earth is disturbed, it may move as much as 50 miles from the average position. Magnetic Compass A magnet is a piece of iron, steel or steel alloy that was induced by a magnetic field. A magnet will attract similar metals.
Some steel alloys have the quality to retain magnetism forever, thus forming permanent magnets.
When a magnetized needle is suspended on a pivot, the North Magnetic Pole attracts one end of the needle while the other end is attracted to the South Magnetic Pole. A magnetic compass is an instrument that measures the direction relative to the magnetic north pole. If a person is to follow the magnetic compass needle, that person will arrive at the Magnetic North Pole. Because the magnetic and geographic north poles are not co-located, a correction must be made to compensate for this discrepancy. At the magnetic equator, the attraction of the compass needle towards the north and south poles is equal and the needle remains unbiased.