In Book 2, Millie feels confused when the electrons mention their North and South poles. She’s surprised to learn there are two types of poles: geographic poles and magnetic poles and they’re not the same thing! Let’s use Earth as an example to understand the difference.

🌍 Geographic Poles
Earth spins around an invisible line called its rotation axis, which runs from the North Pole at the top to the South Pole at the bottom. These are called the geographic poles. Did you know? The location of these poles changes slightly every year, so scientists have to measure and update their positions regularly!

🧲 Magnetic Poles
Earth has a strong magnetic field. This field has its own North and South Magnetic Poles, but these aren’t in the exact same places as the geographic poles. They also wander over time.

So, what happens if you use a compass? A compass points to Earth’s magnetic South Pole, which is close to the geographic North Pole, but not exactly the same!

🌌 Other Planets
Earth isn’t the only planet with a magnetic field. Other planets also have geographic and magnetic poles that don’t match up. Check out the illustration below to see how this works!