Keep collections to yourself or inspire other shoppers! Keep in mind that anyone can view public collections - they may also appear in recommendations and other places. During the 12th century, Europeans created the compass rose. It enabled the creation of the eight principal winds, which includes the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, West) plus the new intercardinal directions; North-East, South-East, South-West, North-West.

A refrigerator magnet works well for this purpose. You can also buy plain magnets from craft stores. Always make sure that the orienting arrow is pointing to grid north (the top of the map) rather than grid south (the bottom of the map) – even if you are walking south – the orienting arrow still needs to point north.Twist the degree dial until the orienting arrow lines up with the north end of the magnetic needle. Once they're aligned, this will tell you where your direction of travel arrow is pointing. [6] X Research source If you’re unsure about using a compass the best thing to do is get the map of an area you know really well, where you wouldn’t usually need a map to get around. Take yourself off for a walk, using the map and a compass to navigate your way as you reach each turning. This way you shouldn’t get lost and you can compare that the direction you think you should be travelling in matches what the compass is telling you! Earth’s magnetic field protects us from charged particles thrown out from the Sun. As these particles come close to Earth, Earth’s magnetic field deflects them.

Other adaptations have been made to magnetic compasses over time, especially for their use in marine navigation. When ships evolved from being made of wood to being made of iron and steel, the magnetism of the ship affected compass readings. This difference is called deviation. Adjustments such as placing soft iron balls (called Kelvin spheres) and bar magnets (called Flinders bars) near the compass helped increase the accuracy of the readings. Deviation must also be taken into account on aircraft using compasses, due to the metal in the construction of an airplane. Compasses are usually made of metal or plastic, and consist of two "legs" connected by a hinge which can be adjusted to allow changing of the radius of the circle drawn. Typically one leg has a spike at its end for anchoring, and the other leg holds a drawing tool, such as a pencil, a short length of just pencil lead or sometimes a pen. One of the most important features of a permanent magnet, whatever shape it is, is that it has two different ends. These ends are called poles . There is a north (N) pole and a south (S) pole. As engineers and scientists learned more about magnetism, the compass needle was mounted and placed in the middle of a card that showed the cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west. A spearhead and the letter T, which stood for the Latin name of the North Wind, Tramontana, signified north. This combination evolved into a fleur-de-lis design, which can still be seen today. All 32 points of direction were eventually added to the compass card.A beam compass (or trammel) offers longer reach and easier adjustment than an ordinary compass. This beam compass is made largely of stainless steel and has a modern look. Since one of the points has an eccentric tip, you only need to clamp the heads approximately; loosen the eccentric point and you get up to 3 mm (1/8 inch) of fine adjustment by rotating the point. Comes with two hardened steel points, a pencil, plus the brass and aluminium heads.