If we suspend a magnet freely, it will settle in _____.

Concept

The Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet. It is surrounded by its own magnetic field whose lines run from the geographic south toward the geographic north. Any small, freely rotating magnet placed in this field experiences a torque that turns it until its own magnetic axis lines up with the field. This alignment is the principle behind the magnetic compass.

Application

When a bar magnet is suspended so it can rotate freely (for example, hung by a thread at its centre or balanced on a pivot), the Earth's field acts on its poles. The torque keeps rotating the magnet until the line joining its two poles is parallel to the Earth's field lines. At that point the magnet comes to rest pointing along the north and south of the Earth.

So the magnet finally settles in the North-South direction, with its north-seeking pole pointing toward the Earth's geographic north.

Cross-check

A magnetic compass is exactly a tiny freely suspended magnet, and its needle always rests pointing North-South. This everyday behaviour confirms that a freely suspended magnet settles along the North-South line, not along any East-West or diagonal direction.