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Magnetic compass adjustment and correction is one of the subjects in the examination curriculum for a shipmaster's certificate of competency. The sources of magnetic deviation vary from compass to compass or vehicle to vehicle. However, they are independent of location, and thus the compass can be calibrated to accommodate them.
In animals, the mechanism for magnetoreception is still under investigation. Two main hypotheses are currently being discussed: one proposing a quantum compass based on a radical pair mechanism, [2] the other postulating a more conventional iron-based magnetic compass with magnetite particles.
Assuming the external magnetic field is uniform and shares a common axis with the paramagnet, the extensive parameter characterizing the magnetic state is , the magnetic dipole moment of the system. The fundamental thermodynamic relation describing the system will then be of the form U = U ( S , V , I , N ) {\displaystyle U=U(S,V,I,N)} .
Direction determination refers to the ways in which a cardinal direction or compass point can be determined in navigation and wayfinding.The most direct method is using a compass (magnetic compass or gyrocompass), but indirect methods exist, based on the Sun path (unaided or by using a watch or sundial), the stars, and satellite navigation.
Isoclinic lines for the year 2020. Magnetic dip results from the tendency of a magnet to align itself with lines of magnetic field. As Earth's magnetic field lines are not parallel to the surface, the north end of a compass needle will point upward in the Southern Hemisphere (negative dip) or downward in the Northern Hemisphere (positive dip).
A fluxgate inclinometer/compass. The basic fluxgate compass is a simple electromagnetic device that employs two or more small coils of wire around a core of highly permeable magnetic material, to directly sense the direction of the horizontal component of the Earth's magnetic field.
Historically, the north and south poles of a magnet were first defined by the Earth's magnetic field, not vice versa, since one of the first uses for a magnet was as a compass needle. A magnet's North pole is defined as the pole that is attracted by the Earth's North Magnetic Pole, in the arctic region, when the magnet is suspended so it can ...
6 - Magnetic variation, caused by variations in Earth's magnetic field. 7 - Compass heading or compass course, before correction for magnetic deviation or magnetic variation. 8 - Magnetic heading, the compass heading corrected for magnetic deviation but not magnetic variation; thus, the heading reliative to magnetic north.