Objective: Determine the horizontal and vertical components of the earth’s magnetic field
This experiment involves determining the inclination and magnitude of the earth’s magnetic field as well as its horizontal and vertical components at the point where the measurement is made. The horizontal component of the earth’s field can be found from the turning of a compass needle when an additional magnetic field is applied by means of a pair of Helmholtz coils. By measuring the angle of inclination, it is also possible to work out the vertical component and calculate the overall magnitude of the earth’s magnetic field.