Assertion: If a compass needle is kept at the magnetic north pole of the Earth,the compass needle may stay in any direction.
Reason: $A$ dip needle will stay vertical at the north pole of the Earth.

Answer the following questions:
$(a)$ The earth's magnetic field varies from point to point in space. Does it also change with time? If so,on what time scale does it change appreciably?
$(b)$ The earth's core is known to contain iron. Yet geologists do not regard this as a source of the earth's magnetism. Why?
$(c)$ The charged currents in the outer conducting regions of the earth's core are thought to be responsible for earth's magnetism. What might be the 'battery' (i.e.,the source of energy) to sustain these currents?
$(d)$ The earth may have even reversed the direction of its field several times during its history of $4$ to $5$ billion years. How can geologists know about the earth's field in such distant past?
$(e)$ The earth's field departs from its dipole shape substantially at large distances (greater than about $30,000\; km$). What agencies may be responsible for this distortion?
$(f)$ Interstellar space has an extremely weak magnetic field of the order of $10^{-12}\; T$. Can such a weak field be of any significant consequence? Explain.

The angle of dip at a certain place is $30^o$. If the horizontal component of the earth's magnetic field is $H$,the intensity of the total magnetic field is:

$A$ long straight horizontal cable carries a current of $2.5\;A$ in the direction $10^{\circ}$ south of west to $10^{\circ}$ north of east. The magnetic meridian of the place happens to be $10^{\circ}$ west of the geographic meridian. The earth's magnetic field at the location is $0.33\;G,$ and the angle of dip is zero. Locate the line of neutral points (ignore the thickness of the cable)? (At neutral points,magnetic field due to a current-carrying cable is equal and opposite to the horizontal component of earth's magnetic field.)

$A$ dip circle is at a right angle to the magnetic meridian. What will be the apparent dip in degrees?

Give the location of magnetic:
$(i)$ north pole
$(ii)$ south pole