1. Freely suspended magnet does not point to north, but aligns to earth’s magnetic field axially ie – north-south.
2. The magnetic pole of the earth is different from true north (geographic north) because the magnetic north is constantly changing.
3. It leads to a margin of error called declination in which there is an angle of difference (11.51)° between Magnetic North and True North.
4. That is the reason the magnetic needle does not settle parallel to the ground.