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The magnitude of Earth's magnetic field at its surface ranges from 25 to 65 μT (0.25 to 0.65 G). [3] As an approximation, it is represented by a field of a magnetic dipole currently tilted at an angle of about 11° with respect to Earth's rotational axis, as if there were an enormous bar magnet placed at that angle through the center of Earth.
Earth's_magnetic_field,_schematic.png (566 × 503 pixels, file size: 96 KB, MIME type: image/png) This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons . Information from its description page there is shown below.
Strength of the axial dipole component of Earth's magnetic field from 1600 to 2020 (from Earth's magnetic field) Image 8 An artist's rendering of the structure of a magnetosphere. 1) Bow shock.
Study of Earth's magnetosphere began in 1600, when William Gilbert discovered that the magnetic field on the surface of Earth resembled that of a terrella, a small, magnetized sphere. In the 1940s, Walter M. Elsasser proposed the model of dynamo theory, which attributes Earth's magnetic field to the motion of Earth's iron outer core.
The magnetic field of larger magnets can be obtained by modeling them as a collection of a large number of small magnets called dipoles each having their own m. The magnetic field produced by the magnet then is the net magnetic field of these dipoles; any net force on the magnet is a result of adding up the forces on the individual dipoles.
The spacing between field lines is an indicator of the relative strength of the magnetic field. Where magnetic field lines converge the field grows stronger, and where they diverge, weaker. Now, it can be shown that in the motion of gyrating particles, the "magnetic moment" μ = W ⊥ /B (or relativistically, p ⊥ 2 /2mγB) stays very nearly ...
The poles of the dipole are located close to Earth's geographic poles. At the equator of the magnetic field, the magnetic-field strength at the surface is 3.05 × 10 −5 T, with a magnetic dipole moment of 7.79 × 10 22 Am 2 at epoch 2000, decreasing nearly 6% per century (although it still remains stronger than its long time average). [146]
The average magnetic field in Earth's outer core is estimated to measure 2.5 milliteslas (25 gauss), 50 times stronger than the magnetic field at the surface. [44] The magnetic field generated by core flow is essential to protect life from interplanetary radiation and prevent the atmosphere from dissipating in the solar wind.