Nancy Fenton, age 11, of Utica, New York, for her question:

 Does a compass point north when south of the equator?

The magnetic compass is really a small magnet. Ono end points to the north, as we all know. But it is equally true that the other end points to the south magnetic pole. It swings around to where it is lined up pointing north and south.

This situation prevails all over the earth. The north seeking pole of the compass needle points to the earth's North Magnetic Pole. The south pole of the compass needle points to the earth's South Magnetic Pole.

The equator is an imaginary line exactly half way between the earth's poles. It, of course, girdles the waist of the world. But it has no effect on the Poles or on the Magnetic Poles. A compass does not even know when it crosses the equator. It keeps on pointing to the north and does so way up into the high latitudes of the Antarctic.