Just Found Out My Cell Phone Makes My Compass Move

I was pretty bored last night and was playing around with my compass. I held a cell phone up to it and it made the needle start to move. It was pretty awesome at first, I was hoping I found some new discovery, but Im pretty sure someone else has already done this.

I made a video of it to.



Anyways, just thought this would be cool to share.

Wonder if field of of magnetism coming from the cell phone has negative affect on magnetite in our brains

Yup, that is the magnetic field of the electrical device interacting with the compass.

The electricity running through the circuits creates a magnetic field which can affect the flow of n/s that the compass normally reads (from the planet). There are many different magnetic fields inside such a device.

It is definitely cool stuff, thanks for posting

ETA: sorry to say, but no new discovery, but if you are interested, research into electromagnetics

reply to post by buni11687


That's just the various metals that make up the phones components acting on the needle - there are tiny rare earth magnets in the mic and speaker for instance and the battery probably has rather a lot of Lithium in it.

reply to post by buni11687


Great!
I just downloaded the compass app for my Droid, and now i find out the phone will mess up the app!
Sorry but i had to because there is an app for that.

reply to post by buni11687


All electronic devices have a electromagnetic field (EMF), this is pretty common knowledge though, at least I though. Compasses work by....magnetic orientation....so.....

here's a link that explains a little bit of what your talking about
en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by sinohptik

Yup, that is the magnetic field of the electrical device interacting with the compass.

Probably, but easy to test. Remove the battery, make sure there is no power left in the device, try again. If it still interferes with the compass, it's the magnets and metals, if it doesn't, the magnetic field being created is strong enough to through the compass off.

Anything can really though, I recall in my younger years being taut the nuances of deer hunting by my grandfather. Lesson 1. when using the compass hold it up and OUT. If you hold it close to you, your belt buckle can throw it off.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters


As a note, i would consider a "magnetic field of the electrical device (phone, in this case)" to also include the permanent magnets inside as well as the magnetic field inevitably created by flowing electricity and various electrical components.

edit: actual testing of it all would be interesting though!

reply to post by phishyblankwaters


Don't need a battery to do this.

Any steel object placed next to any compass will make the compass deviate.
That is a basic law of magnetism, no rocket science involved here.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters

Remove the battery, make sure there is no power left in the device, try again. If it still interferes with the compass, it's the magnets and metals, if it doesn't, the magnetic field being created is strong enough to through the compass off.

The phone has a speaker. The speaker contains a fairly powerful permanent magnet. The phone microphone probably uses one too. These will continue to draw the needle of the compass even with the battery removed.