Question

State whether true or false:
The angle between geographic and magnetic meridian is called angle of dip.
(A) True
(B) False

Answer 1

To answer this question, we need to look into the definition of the geographic and the magnetic meridian. Then, we need to relate the position of a compass needle with the position of the magnetic meridian.

Complete step-by-step solution
A compass needle, when suspended freely, aligns itself in a particular direction. It happens due to the magnetic field of the earth. The north pole of the compass points towards the north pole of the earth’s magnetic field. This property is used for the determination of the north pole of the earth at a particular location.
But it is found that the north pole of the compass needle does not exactly point towards the geographic north pole of the earth. This is due to the fact that the line joining the magnetic poles is not aligned with the geographic meridian. It is a little bit tilted with respect to the geographic meridian. Thus the magnetic poles of the earth do not coincide with the geographic poles.
The angle which the geographic meridian makes with the magnetic meridian is known as the angle of declination, and not the angle of dip.
Thus, the statement given in the question is False.
Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Additional Information
The angle of dip at a location is defined as the angle made by the earth’s total magnetic field at that location with the horizontal.

Note
The north pole of the earth’s magnetic field does not actually behave like the north pole of a bar magnet. We know that the magnetic field lines go into the north pole of a bar magnet. But the magnetic field lines actually come out of the magnetic north pole of earth. This is due to the convention which is accepted on the basis of the deflection of the north pole of a compass needle.