Compass directions and the compass
With the eight compass directions and the degrees of a compass you say exactly where a place lies: Antwerp is north of Brussels, Namur south-east.
Why
You stand on the sea wall in Ostend looking at the sea. Is Brussels in front of you, behind you or to one side?
Left and right do not help much: when you turn round, they swap places. You need words that stay the same wherever you stand.
Those are the compass directions. Brussels lies roughly east of Ostend, so when you face the sea, Brussels is behind you.
See it
Turn the needle and read the direction and the degrees. Switch on the cities and see in which direction they lie from Brussels.
Description of the picture
A compass rose with the eight directions and the degrees: north 0°, east 90°, south 180°, west 270°. Around Brussels, drawn schematically, Antwerp lies to the north, Liège to the east, Namur to the south-east and Bruges to the north-west.
Get it
The four main directions are north, east, south and west. Between them lie north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west. Together that makes eight directions.
A compass measures a direction in degrees, clockwise from north: north is 0°, east 90°, south 180° and west 270°. From one direction to the next is always 45°.
The needle of a compass points roughly north. On most maps north is at the top, so east is on the right and west on the left. If there is a north arrow, follow it.
You always give a direction from a starting point. Antwerp lies north of Brussels, so Brussels lies south of Antwerp: the opposite direction, 180° further on.
North =
Worked example
You walk east in the Ardennes (90°). You turn right and a bit later you bear half-right again (45°). In which direction are you walking now?
Turning right adds 90°.
90+
90= 180 Bearing half-right adds another 45°.
180+
45= 225 225° lies exactly between south (180°) and west (270°). That is south-west.
- Answer
You are now walking south-west, at 225°.
Do it
Choose a level. You get a new exercise every time, checked straight away.
Pitfalls
Wrong: On a map with north at the top, east is on the left.
When you face north, east is on your right-hand side. On the map it is the same.
Right: North at the top, east on the right, south at the bottom, west on the left. Clockwise: N, E, S, W.
Wrong: Antwerp lies north of Brussels, so Brussels also lies north of Antwerp.
When you swap the starting point, the direction turns round. You are then looking the other way.
Right: Brussels lies south of Antwerp: 0°+180°=
180°. Wrong: Turning left from north (0°) gives −90°.
Degrees on a compass run from 0° to 360°. If you go below 0°, add 360°.
Right: 0−
90+ 360= 270, so you are facing west, at 270°. Wrong: A west wind blows towards the west.
A wind is named after the direction it comes from.
Right: A west wind comes from the west and blows towards the east.
In real life
- On the weather report you hear "wind from the south-west". That is where the wind comes from, not where it is going.
- The cycling junction map has a north arrow. That way you turn the map to match the road you are riding.
- At a youth group orienteering game you get a compass and a direction in degrees, for example 135°, and find the way yourself.
- At the coast, De Panne lies in the west and Knokke-Heist in the east. The sea lies north-west of the beach.
History
The compass with a magnetic needle was first used in China and reached Europe in the Middle Ages. Sailors used it to find their direction, even when neither the sun nor the stars could be seen.
At the table
Where does the sun roughly set in the evening, seen from your kitchen or garden? Find west together, then point to north, east and south.
A question to talk about together, for parents and children. There is no wrong answer.