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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Magnetosphere, this is the seventh lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Introduction to Magnetism, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.
The magnetosphere is the region of space surrounding Earth where the dominant magnetic field is the magnetic field of Earth, rather than the magnetic field of interplanetary space. The magnetosphere is formed by the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetic field.
The magnetosphere shields the surface of the Earth from the charged particles of the solar wind and is generated by electric currents located in many different parts of the Earth. It is compressed on the day (Sun) side due to the force of the arriving particles and extended on the night side.
Magnetosphere acts like an umbrella, protecting Earth from hazardous cosmic rays coming from the sun. In the absence of the magnetosphere, these cosmic rays may cause cancer in humans and animals. Under these circumstances, life on Earth would end very soon.
The average distance of magnetosphere from the Earth is about 65000 km. It extends well beyond the other layers of atmosphere, which extend up to 1000 km above the Earth surface.
You have reached the end of Physics lesson 16.1.7 Magnetosphere. There are 9 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Introduction to Magnetism, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.
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