Bar Magnet on a Table

This image illustrates how the magnetic field of a bar magnet sitting on a table in the TEAL classroom interacts with the magnetic field of the earth. Fieldlines that emerge towards the edges of a magnet generally reconnect with it near the opposite pole. However, fieldlines that emerge near the poles tend to wander off and reconnect to the magnetic field of the earth, which, at the latitude of Cambridge, MA, comes in from above at approximately 60 degrees.