Relative Direction Versus Compass Direction
When somebody asks for directions in order to get from point A to point B, the answer can be provided in one of two ways: relative direction or compass direction. ;A person providing relative directions will use commons terms such as;left,;right,;forward,;backward,;up, and;down. ;
For example, you may ask the way to the local park and the person will tell you to walk down Street A and then turn left when you see the pond. ;They may further explain that the park is on the other side of the pond. ;
What Are Directions In Geography
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North, South, East, and West are the four main “cardinal” directions. On a map, North is at the top, South at the bottom, West to the left, and East to the right. Every map has a Map Scale which relates distance on the map to the world. For example, one inch equals one mile.
Likewise, why are they called cardinal directions? “Cardinal” in this sense means “primary” or “of most importance”. They are the cardinal directions because they lay out the basic grid, and all other directions are given relative to them.
Also question is, what is cardinal directions in geography?
Cardinal directions are the four main points of a compass: north, south, east, and west which are also known by the first letters: N,S,E, and W. These four directions are also known as cardinal points. Ordinal directions are: northeast , southeast , southwest , and northwest .
What are the directions called?
Cardinal Directions are the most commonly used forms of direction. and include North, South, East and West. The four equal divisions – Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest – are Primary InterCardinal directions.
The 10 directions according to Hinduism are:
- North.
map5 ways to improve your navigation skills
Cardinal Direction Names At A North Polar Moon Base
There’s a human settlement at the north pole of the moon large enough to sustain expansion outwards for say 100 km in all directions. Humans like to think in terms of four principal cardinal directions: north, south, east and west. That works fine on Earth since since civilization has had no desire to live at the poles. But that won’t be the case on the Moon — the poles will be prime real-estate. There, notions of north and east will have little meaning with respect to local terrain. If someone asked you “which way is north?” the direction you would point to on the horizon would depend on your relationship to the pole at that particular time. Not a useful system for providing directions to lost travelers.
A more pragmatic system for direction bearing would be in relation to the Earth, since it would be near the horizon and generally in the same direction at all times . But what then would be good colloquial “homesteader” names for the four cardinal directions with respect to it?
Toward Earth might sensibly be called “earthward”. But what about in the opposite direction and the two orthogonal directions?
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What Is Direction In Geography
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Direction is the particular way you have to go to get from one place to another. Examples of directions include north, south, east, and west. Directly up on a map is usually north; down is usually south; to the right is usually east; and to the left is usually West.
Also Know, how do you identify a map? North, South, East, and West are the four main “cardinal” directions. On a map, North is at the top, South at the bottom, West to the left, and East to the right. Every map has a Map Scale which relates distance on the map to the world. For example, one inch equals one mile.
Just so, how are directions identified?
North, south, east, and west are known as cardinal directions. These cardinal directions can be abbreviated as N, S, E, and W. Cardinal points: north, south, east, and west. We can use the location of the sun in the sky in order to determine direction.
Which way is east?
‘ ‘East‘ is at right angles to north in a clockwise direction; ‘west’ is at right angles to north in a counterclockwise direction. ‘Northeast’ is the direction halfway between north and east!”
What Is Cardinal Directions In Geography
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Cardinal direction. The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the clockwise direction of rotation and west being directly opposite.
Additionally, what are cardinal directions on a map? Cardinal Directions and the Compass Rose. Cardinal Directions are the most commonly used forms of direction. and include North, South, East and West. The four equal divisions – Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest – are called Primary InterCardinal directions.
One may also ask, what are directions in geography?
Direction is used to determine where things are in relation to other things. Direction can also describe movement: Susie can walk forward or backward, and she can turn left or right when walking to school. Cardinal directions are probably the most important directions in geography: north, south, east and west.
How do you read cardinal directions?
To understand where north, south, east, and west are, first point your left arm towards the sun in the morning. Now, take your right hand and point it towards the west. You are now facing south and your back is towards the north.
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Egyptian Orientation And Geography
Orientation is important and often neglected. Orientation is defined as;ones;position in relation;to geographic north,;to;points;on;the;compass,;or;to;a;specific;place;or;object. ;Today, our orientation is based on facing the direction we call North which is reflected in how we see world maps and the depictions of the various continents. ;The picture below is a typical representation of the worlds continents and thus our orientation.
The indigenous peoples of Africa are of the first known to use body parts to map out geography and direction. ;The entire territory for a given society was laid out in relation to the human body. ;Whatever direction the head was found is the direction of orientation for the people. ;In Ancient Kemet, the head was placed to our South at the source of the Nile, the feet placed to our North at the Delta, the left hand placed to our East, and the right hand placed to our West. ;The head is associated with upper and elevation whereas the feet are associated with lower and decline. ;We still do this today by calling the bottom of a hill or mountain, the Foot of the Mountain. ;The picture below is how the African Continent would be orientated to the ancient Egyptians. ;Note it is in reverse or from how Western societies view the world.
Egyptian Vocabulary:
- ;iAbtt EAST, left side, left hand.
- ;rsy SOUTH, head, beginning, upper, elevated, up river.
- ;imntt WEST, right side, right hand.
- ;mHty NORTH, feet, end, submerged, decline, down river
Errors Of The Compassdeviation And Declination
Hold a steel knife close to the needle of your floating compass and watch the needle swing toward the blade. It no longer points to magnetic north and is quite useless as a direction finder. If you are depending upon a compass to find your way, be sure that there is no iron or steel near it. This compass error, caused by iron or by any other magnetic substance, is called deviation.
The other compass error is called declination, or variation. It is the difference between true north and magnetic north. You need to know how much the variation is for the place where you are and allow for it. Declination maps and calculators are available online.
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Extraterrestrial Use; Western Spiral Arm Etc
I came here to find out about use of cardinal points to describe parts of a galaxy etc . Would anyone like to create a new section on this? Nankai 03:31, 5 October 2012
- Cardinal directions are generally used in planetary science only in relation to a single planet, not in larger bodies such as galaxies. I love Douglas Adams but without a more reliable scientific source it’s not really appropriate here.–RadioFan 16:29, 8 June 2014
Germanic Origin Of Names
During the Migration Period, the Germanic names for the cardinal directions entered the Romance languages, where they replaced the Latin names borealis with north, australis with south, occidentalis with west and orientalis with east. It is possible that some northern people used the Germanic names for the intermediate directions. Medieval Scandinavian orientation would thus have involved a 45 degree rotation of cardinal directions.
- north from the proto-Indo-European *nórto-s ‘submerged’ from the root *ner- ‘left, below, to the left of the rising sun’ whence comes the Ancient Greek name Nereus.
- east from the word for dawn. The proto-Indo-European form is *austo-s from the root *aues– ‘shine ‘. See Äostre.
- south , derived from proto-Indo-European *sú-n-to-s from the root *seu– ‘seethe, boil’. Cognate with this root is the word Sun, thus “the region of the Sun”.
- west from a word for “evening”. The proto-Indo-European form is *uestos from the root *ues- ‘shine ‘, itself a form of *aues-. Cognate with the root are the Latin words vesper and vesta and the Ancient GreekHestia, Hesperus and Hesperides.
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Finding Directions By The Stars
If you stood at the North Pole and looked up, you would see a star directly over your head. You can see this same star from any place in the Northern Hemisphere. When you point to it, you are pointing very nearly true north. The star was named Polaris, after the pole, but it is also called the North Star, or the polestar. Before the compass was invented the North Star was the best guide for travelers on land and sea. It is not a very bright star, but it is easy to find.
Since very early times, people have imagined that certain groups of stars form the outlines of pictures. The groups are called constellations. The best known of all the constellations is the group of seven bright stars that form the Big Dipper. The two stars in the bowl that are farthest away from the handle are called the Pointers. Star charts show you how to use the Pointers to find the North Star. When you have found the North Star, look for the Little Dipper. The North Star is the last star in the handle of this smaller constellation. Once you have found the Little Dipper, look for Cassiopeia.
The North Star never sets, and it is the only star that is always in the same place in the sky. The stars close to itcalled circumpolar starsappear to circle around the North Star. Sometimes the Big Dipper seems to be standing on its handle and sometimes hanging by it.
Examples Of Cardinal Point In A Sentence
cardinal points Ars Technicacardinal pointsNew York Timescardinal pointsLongreadscardinal pointsLos Angeles Timescardinal points Town & Countrycardinal points Condé Nast Traveler
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘cardinal point.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Almost Ready For Good Article Status
After reading Wikipedia:Good articles and perusing articles that have achieved the status, I conclude that our own “Cardinal direction” is nearly there. The only obvious deficiency, IMHO, is the lack of references for some of the key points, including some of the essential core points. Meanwhile, some of the subtopics are thoroughly referenced already.
Be it known, I am not looking to place blame. In fact I am notorious for NOT providing references with my contributions. In the near future I will endeavor to reference the stuff I added. As most of it originated from books I borrowed decades ago from public libraries, it shouldn’t be hard to do.
Please comment! In particular:
- Do you agree or disagree with my readiness assessment?
- Is there important material missing?
Until the references are fixed it would be inappropriate & premature to nominate “Cardinal direction” for the independent evaluation required as a condition of being awarded the “Good Article” status.
How To Sight A Star
After locating the North Star, you need to bring it down to Earth. First, drive a long stake into the ground. Then take a shorter stick and get down on the ground with it. Move it around until you can sight across the tops of the two sticks as if you were aiming a gun at the North Star. When the three pointsthe two sticks and the starare in an exact line, drive the short stick into the ground. A line joining the two sticks will run north-south, with the tall stick marking north.
If the North Star is behind a cloud, any other bright star will give you a general direction. Sight the star across two sticks in the same way. Then watch for a while to see which way the star is moving. Remember that stars, like the Sun, rise in the east, circle across the sky, and set in the west.
If the star you are watching is low in the sky, it will appear to move either up or down. If it is rising, you are facing east. If it is setting, you are facing west. If you are watching a star high in the sky, it will appear to move sideways instead of up or down. The direction toward which it moves is west. In the Northern Hemisphere, if it moves to your right, you are facing south. If it moves to your left, you are facing north.
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How The Sun Shows Direction
The way to a place is called direction. ;In order to find a place or to describe where it is, we must know in what direction from us it lies. ;Most commonly, directions are provided in terms of whether the place lies north, south, east, or west of where we are currently located .
North, south, east, and west are known as cardinal directions. ;These cardinal directions can be abbreviated as N, S, E, and W.
We can use the location of the sun in the sky in order to determine direction.
;Stand outside in the morning and look up at the sky . ;
Where is the sun currently located? ;The sun rises in the east. ;Therefore, the location of the sun in the morning is towards the east. ;
Compare this to the location of the sun in the sky in the late afternoon. ;The sun sets in the west. ; At noon local time, the sun is directly overhead.
How To Make A Floating Compass
If you have a toy horseshoe magnet or a bar magnet, you can make a compass. Try this experiment. In addition to a magnet you will need two bowls , two sewing needles, and a piece of cork.
Notice that your magnet pulls to itself small iron and steel objects, such as paper clips. This pull is called magnetic force. It is very much stronger at the two ends of the magnet than in the middle. The ends are called poles. The poles look alike and they have equal magnetic force. Your floating compass will show, however, that each pole behaves differently.
Run each needle through a small piece of cork so it will float. Drop one needle in each bowl. When the needles come to rest, each will lie in the same direction as a compass needle. One needle, however, will lie with its eye end toward magnetic north; the other, with its point end toward magnetic north.
If you put both needles into the same bowl, they will join eye to eye or point to point. The reason for this is that you made the eye of one needle a north-seeking pole and the eye of the other a south-seeking pole. Unlike, or opposite, poles attract each other. This means they pull toward each other. Similar, or like, poles repel each other. That is, they will push each other away.
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Orientation With Map And Compass
There are many large areas around the world where one might wander for days without meeting another person or crossing a road. In such places the fisherman, the hunter, the camper, the hiker, the mountain climber, and others can use a map and compass to help them find their way.
The best kind of map for this purpose is a topographic sheet in the scale of 1 inch to 2,000 feet . Topographic maps use line symbols, called contours, to show ups and downs. They also show every creek, pond, and woodland, as well as man-made features. Such maps may be obtained from a map store or from certain local and national government offices.
One of the best compasses for hikers is the orienteering compass. It is mounted on a transparent plastic plate. The magnetic needle swings inside a fluid-filled housing made of plastic or some other nonmagnetic material. The housing can be turned easily on the plate. The circular edge of the housing is marked into 360 parts, called degrees. Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere compasses have their needles weighted in opposite manners to compensate for the magnetic pull on their pointers.
The degrees are numbered in clockwise order from zero through 360. North is zero, or 360. East is 90, south is 180, and west is 270. Each degree indicates a possible direction of travel, called a bearing.
If a starting place and destination are marked on a map, the route direction may be determined by using a compass. The following steps will provide a bearing.