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Jul 24, 2023 · The compass needle is a tool used in navigation to determine direction. It consists of a slender, magnetized needle attached to a pivot point, allowing it to move freely and align with the Earth’s magnetic field. The needle points to the Earth’s magnetic north, enabling travelers to find their way accurately.
The compass needle always points to magnetic north. If you have a compass and you find north, you can then know any other direction. See the directions, such as east, south, west, etc., on a compass rose. Ask your own question! The most common way to find direction is by using a compass. A compass is a device with a floating needle (Figure here).
- Why Compasses Can Be Inaccurate
- Ship's Compasses
- Other Kinds of Compasses
- Who Invented The Compass?
Compasses are brilliantly useful but they can sometimes lead us astray, because of twoquite different problems called declination (or variation) anddeviation. Here's why.
Declination and deviation don't matter so much if you're on foot with a map or in acar; generally, there are other things you can use to help you findyour way and it's hardly catastrophic if you take a wrong turn ortwo. On a ship, far from land and in bad weather (so you can'tnavigate by the sky), it's a whole different matter. Beforetechnological ...
Gyrocompasses
If magnetic compasses can be tricky to use in ships, imagine how much worse they are in fast-moving aircraft. That's why airplanes (plus large shipsand some land vehicles) rely on gyrocompasses. Unlike a magneticcompass, which points the same way because of magnetic attraction, agyrocompass uses a gyroscope—a fast-spinning wheel, mounted ongimbals, that keeps rotating in the same direction whichever way youturn it. Gyrocompasses are better able to cope with the more "dynamicenvironment" onboa...
Astrocompasses
While magnetic compasses and gyrocompasses are set according to the Earth,astrocompasses are aligned with the position of celestial bodies(fixed points in the sky, such as the Sun or stars) and then indicatethe position of true north. They're more complex and harder to usethan magnetic compasses, but offer a good alternative in places likethe polar regions where magnetic compasses and gyrocompasses areunreliable. Photo: Gyrocompass and navigational equipment on a truck. Photo courtesy ofUS Ge...
Radio compasses
Also called radio direction finders (RDF), these pick up directional signals beamed outfrom radio transmitters.The basic idea is that a receiving antenna (onboard something like a ship or airplane) picks up a stronger or weaker signal according to how it points toward the transmitting antenna.With original RDF equipment, you had to turn the receiving antenna one way or the other to maximize or minimize the signal, which allowed you to figure out where the transmitter was. With signals from mo...
Photo: A fateful compass: This is the compass that actor John Wilkes Booth used to navigate the Potomac River, as he made his escape after shooting US President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Photo courtesy of Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. No-one knows when or where compasses were invented, but this i...
Jul 28, 2010 · How it works. A compass points north because all magnets have two poles , a north pole and a south pole, and the north pole of one magnet is attracted to the south pole of another magnet. (You may ...
- Molika Ashford
This needle is not just any needle, but a magnetized one, and it always points in one direction: North. This is the basic idea behind a compass. The Earth is a giant magnet, and the North Pole of this magnet pulls the needle of the compass towards it. That's why the needle always points North.
The North American compass will have the pivot point the needle rests on slightly into the north half of the needle thus offsetting the downward pull. When the compass is taken to South America, the imbalance will work in the same direction as the vertical pull and the needle could very well rub against the roof of the housing making the compass unusable.
People also ask
What direction does a compass needle point to?
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How do compass needles work?
How does a compass work?
How do you use a compass?
The needle of a compass is a small magnet, one that is allowed to pivot freely. When the needle experiences a magnetic field either from a nearby magnet or the Earth's magnetic field it moves. The reaction to this movement is the needle's preferred alignment this magnetic field. The ‘north' end of the compass needle is simply the north end of ...
