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A modern military compass, with included sight device for aligning. A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with magnetic north.
Arago's rotations is an observable magnetic phenomenon that involves the interactions between a magnetized needle and a moving metal disk. The effect was discovered by François Arago in 1824. At the time of their discovery, Arago's rotations were surprising effects that were difficult to explain.
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
A Flinders bar is a vertical soft iron bar placed in a tube on the fore side of a compass binnacle. The Flinders bar is used to counteract the vertical magnetism inherent within a ship and is usually calibrated as part of the process known as swinging the compass , where deviations caused by this inherent magnetism are negated by the use of ...
A sample compass correction card, showing the deviation correction for a given heading. Once the compass has been corrected using small magnets fitted in the base and with soft iron balls, any residual deviation is recorded as a table or graph: the compass correction card, which is kept on board near the compass. [6]
Like other nickel/iron compositions, Invar is a solid solution; that is, it is a single-phase alloy.In one commercial grade called Invar 36 it consists of approximately 36% nickel and 64% iron, [4] has a melting point of 1,427 °C (2,601 °F), a density of 8.05 g/cm 3 and a resistivity of 8.2 × 10 −5 Ω·cm. [5]
While compass surveying, the magnetic needle is sometimes disturbed from its normal position under the influence of external attractive forces. Such a disturbing influence is called as local attraction. [1] The external forces are produced by sources of local attraction which may be current carrying wire (magnetic materials) or metal objects. [2]
The beam compass is used to scribe a circle, either by drawing with lead, penning by ink, or scratching with a sharpened point. The radius can be adjusted by sliding the metal point holder across a wood beam or metal rod, and locking it by turning a knob at the desired location. Some have a fine radius adjustment.