On the Wed hike, I was asked if the North Pole was Positive or Negative. It may be a matter of interpretation -- read on...
The north-seeking end of a magnet is in English-speaking countries called the north pole and the other end the south pole; in France the names are interchanged. The reason for this conflict in terminology can be traced to the early users of the compass. Knowing little about magnetic effects, they called the end of the compass needle that pointed towards the north geographical pole, the north pole of a compass. A north pole is reckoned as positive (+) and a south pole as negative... A pole which points north is reckoned positive, one which points south negative. http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:eV2nSOlj-_oJ:31.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MA/MAGNETISM.htm+north+pole+positive+pole+earth&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Noun 1. positive magnetic pole - the pole of a magnet that points toward the north when the magnet is suspended freely http://www.thefreedictionary.com/positive%20magnetic%20pole
One of the first things we note in examining a bar magnet is that it has two region of magnetic concentration: poles at the ends of the magnet. We call these two poles north seeking N, and south seeking, S, since a compass needle was one of the earliest applications of magnetism. The N pole of a magnet, like a compass, points north, and the S pole points south. http://library.thinkquest.org/12632/electricity/magnetism.html
A magnet will align itself with Earth's magnetic field with one (the positive north seeking)
pointing towards the Earth's north pole and the other (the negative south seeking)
towards the south magnetic pole. http://www.geophysik.uni-koeln.de/studium/WS03/vorlesung/geoscience/chapter5.pdf
French magnets are marked N (being negative) and S (positive). S will seek the North and N, the south of a suspended French magnet. The N seeking pole of a compass needle will be repelled by the N marked pole of an English or German bar-magnet, and will be attracted by the N marked pole of a French magnet. http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:ajLpgs6pd7UJ:www.meridianinstitute.com/eaem/abrams1/abr1ch3.html+English-speaking+north-seeking+end+of+a+magnet&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Note that since the north pole of the magnet is attracted to the south pole of another magnet, the Earth's geographic north is actually a magnetic south. The overall geomagnetic field is becoming weaker at a rate which will cause the field to disappear, albeit temporarily, by about 4000 AD. Other sources have put the date of field collapse as early as 3000 AD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet
Definition: POSITIVE MAGNETIC POLE [n] the pole of a magnet that points toward the north when the magnet is suspended freely. Synonyms: north-seeking pole, positive
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