The region of a permanent magnet or electromagnet where the magnetic flux lines exit the material and travel outward into the surrounding space. In electrical machines, rotating north and south poles interact to create torque. By convention, the north pole of a magnet is the one that points toward the Earth's geographic North Pole if allowed to pivot freely.
Heard on the job
Check the polarity of the rotor field coils to make sure we alternate north pole and south pole all the way around.