How it Works:
Magnetism attracts metals that are magnetically charged towards each other in something we call a magnetic field. The Earth itself has a magnetic field, but it is very weak. Although it is weak, by placing a light piece of metal on something relatively frictionless, like a pivot, the piece of metal will point towards the northern pole of the magnetic field. That's exactly what we did with these compasses, we placed a thin piece of metal on a pivot and put an acrylic glass cover over the needle so that it will point us in the direction and wont fall out.
Magnetism attracts metals that are magnetically charged towards each other in something we call a magnetic field. The Earth itself has a magnetic field, but it is very weak. Although it is weak, by placing a light piece of metal on something relatively frictionless, like a pivot, the piece of metal will point towards the northern pole of the magnetic field. That's exactly what we did with these compasses, we placed a thin piece of metal on a pivot and put an acrylic glass cover over the needle so that it will point us in the direction and wont fall out.