{"id":85827,"date":"2025-06-01T03:28:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T03:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/?p=85827"},"modified":"2025-06-01T03:28:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T03:28:56","slug":"the-direction-of-magnetic-field-at-any-location-on-the-earths-surface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-direction-of-magnetic-field-at-any-location-on-the-earths-surface\/","title":{"rendered":"The direction of magnetic field at any location on the earth’s surface"},"content":{"rendered":"

The direction of magnetic field at any location on the earth’s surface is commonly specified in terms of<\/p>\n

[amp_mcq option1=”field declination” option2=”field inclination” option3=”both field declination and field inclination” option4=”horizontal component of the field” correct=”option3″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
This question was previously asked in<\/div>\n
UPSC CDS-2 – 2018<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Download PDF<\/a>Attempt Online<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe direction of the Earth’s magnetic field at any location is specified in terms of both field declination and field inclination.
\n<\/section>\n
\nThe Earth’s magnetic field at a given point is a vector quantity with both magnitude and direction. To fully describe the direction of this vector in three-dimensional space relative to the Earth’s surface and geographic north, two angles are needed.
\nMagnetic Declination is the angle in the horizontal plane between magnetic north (the direction a compass needle points) and true geographic north.
\nMagnetic Inclination (or Dip angle) is the angle between the magnetic field vector and the horizontal plane. This angle measures how steeply the field lines dip into the Earth.
\nTogether, declination specifies the horizontal direction (azimuth), and inclination specifies the vertical angle (dip), thus defining the orientation of the magnetic field vector.
\n<\/section>\n
\nThe magnitude of the Earth’s magnetic field is also important, along with its direction. The horizontal component of the field is related to both the total field strength and the inclination (Horizontal Component = Total Field * cos(Inclination)). While the horizontal component is a part of the description, specifying the *direction* requires both declination and inclination.
\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The direction of magnetic field at any location on the earth’s surface is commonly specified in terms of [amp_mcq option1=”field declination” option2=”field inclination” option3=”both field declination and field inclination” option4=”horizontal component of the field” correct=”option3″] This question was previously asked in UPSC CDS-2 – 2018 Download PDFAttempt Online The direction of the Earth’s magnetic field … <\/p>\n

Detailed SolutionThe direction of magnetic field at any location on the earth’s surface<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1088],"tags":[1114,1115,1128],"class_list":["post-85827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc-cds-2","tag-1114","tag-miscellaneous","tag-physics","no-featured-image-padding"],"yoast_head":"\nThe direction of magnetic field at any location on the earth's surface<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The direction of the Earth's magnetic field at any location is specified in terms of both field declination and field inclination. The Earth's magnetic field at a given point is a vector quantity with both magnitude and direction. To fully describe the direction of this vector in three-dimensional space relative to the Earth's surface and geographic north, two angles are needed. Magnetic Declination is the angle in the horizontal plane between magnetic north (the direction a compass needle points) and true geographic north. Magnetic Inclination (or Dip angle) is the angle between the magnetic field vector and the horizontal plane. This angle measures how steeply the field lines dip into the Earth. Together, declination specifies the horizontal direction (azimuth), and inclination specifies the vertical angle (dip), thus defining the orientation of the magnetic field vector.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-direction-of-magnetic-field-at-any-location-on-the-earths-surface\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The direction of magnetic field at any location on the earth's surface\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The direction of the Earth's magnetic field at any location is specified in terms of both field declination and field inclination. The Earth's magnetic field at a given point is a vector quantity with both magnitude and direction. To fully describe the direction of this vector in three-dimensional space relative to the Earth's surface and geographic north, two angles are needed. Magnetic Declination is the angle in the horizontal plane between magnetic north (the direction a compass needle points) and true geographic north. Magnetic Inclination (or Dip angle) is the angle between the magnetic field vector and the horizontal plane. This angle measures how steeply the field lines dip into the Earth. Together, declination specifies the horizontal direction (azimuth), and inclination specifies the vertical angle (dip), thus defining the orientation of the magnetic field vector.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-direction-of-magnetic-field-at-any-location-on-the-earths-surface\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MCQ and Quiz for Exams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T03:28:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The direction of magnetic field at any location on the earth's surface","description":"The direction of the Earth's magnetic field at any location is specified in terms of both field declination and field inclination. 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Magnetic Declination is the angle in the horizontal plane between magnetic north (the direction a compass needle points) and true geographic north. Magnetic Inclination (or Dip angle) is the angle between the magnetic field vector and the horizontal plane. This angle measures how steeply the field lines dip into the Earth. Together, declination specifies the horizontal direction (azimuth), and inclination specifies the vertical angle (dip), thus defining the orientation of the magnetic field vector.","og_url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-direction-of-magnetic-field-at-any-location-on-the-earths-surface\/","og_site_name":"MCQ and Quiz for Exams","article_published_time":"2025-06-01T03:28:56+00:00","author":"rawan239","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rawan239","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-direction-of-magnetic-field-at-any-location-on-the-earths-surface\/","url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/the-direction-of-magnetic-field-at-any-location-on-the-earths-surface\/","name":"The direction of magnetic field at any location on the earth's surface","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-01T03:28:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-01T03:28:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/5807dafeb27d2ec82344d6cbd6c3d209"},"description":"The direction of the Earth's magnetic field at any location is specified in terms of both field declination and field inclination. 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