solar magnetic field is like salt and pepper

Categories: Comparisons

An example of a simile used in public science discourse:

Map of magnetic field near Sun's South Pole
Map of magnetic field near Sun's South Pole (Source: European Space Agency)

RP: "There is a magnetic field map there, which means nothing to me, it's just got lots of these tiny red and blue spots on it."

SY: "It's like salt and pepper, so these are the positive and negative, these are the different polarities of the magnetic field."

Dr Steph Yardley, Northumbria University was being interviewed by Roland Pease on an episode ('The first solar polar pictures') of BBC's Science in Action.

Read about similes in science

Read about examples of science similes

Many examples of science similes are listed in 'Creative Comparisons: Making Science Familiar through Language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.

ESA poster with various images shwoing obseervations of the Sun's South Pole from the position of the Solar Orbiter
Solar Orbiter's world-first views of the Sun's south pole (Source: ESA, https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Solar_Orbiter/Solar_Orbiter_gets_world-first_views_of_the_Sun_s_poles)

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Author: Keith

Former school and college science teacher, teacher educator, research supervisor, and research methods lecturer. Emeritus Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge.