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The Compass

Museum of Maritime Navigation and Communication

By Kate Farhat, Kristen Farhat, Anika Thakkar, Michele Chahwan, and Dea Zenelaj

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Compass History

  • The first compass was invented in china during the Han Dynasty
  • It wasn’t used in navigation until the 11/12th Century
  • The magnetic properties were discovered in the 7th century
    • Rubbing on magnetite
    • Cooled form red heat

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Early Compass

  • Made of lodestone
  • It was suspended to be able to rotate with the magnetic pull
  • The shape varied
  • Eventually made of magnetized iron instead

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Compass

Wet Compass

  • A refined magnetized needle floats in a container of water, free to rotate
  • Avoids friction
  • “South Pointing Fish”

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Compass

Dry Compass

  • A needle is placed on a shaft or suspended from a silk thread to rotate
  • “Turtle Compass”

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How it Works

  • Earth has natural magnetic fields
    • Created by the movement of the liquid part of Earth’s core
  • Creates a north and south pole
    • Magnetic
    • Geographic
  • The opposite poles of the earth and needle attract each other

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Compass Rose

  • 32 points
  • Represents different winds
  • Eight major ones
  • Represented by symbols/letters on the compass

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Make your own!

  1. Magnetize sewing needle - Rub one end with the north end of your magnet 50 times and color this side red with a sharpie. Rub the other end of the needle with the south pole of the magnet

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Make your own!

Wax Paper - cut a circle (1 inch diameter)

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Thread the needle - leave it half way through lying flat on the surface

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Make your own!

Float - place the wax paper on the surface of a container of water

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Watch! - the needle will rotate and the red side will point north!

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Sources

  • http://www.historyofcompass.com/

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  • https://www.dalvey.com/blog/the-history-of-the-compass

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  • https://www.universetoday.com/77072/how-does-a-compass-work/#:~:text=A%20compass%20works%20by%20detecting%20the%20Earth's%20natural%20magnetic%20fields.&text=This%20allows%20the%20needle%20to,are%20able%20to%20discern%20north.

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  • https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/homemade-compass/