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How did sailors find their longitude before radio navigation aids were invented?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
They kept a clock aboard ship, set to the time of the home port, and they would note
the time back home at the point when they observed the sun to be highest at sea.
For every hour that home was then past noon, they were 15 degrees west of home.
For every hour that home had yet to reach noon, they were 15 degrees east of home.
You can see that the accuracy of navigation by sea depended heavily on the accuracy
of the portable clock. A single $1.79 LED plastic digital wristwatch in the hands of the
Vikings might have changed the course of history.
The whole pursuit of smaller and more reliable clocks wasn't motivated by any desire of the
common people to have precise clocks in their homes. The demand came from the maritime
merchant interests, who needed accurate clocks for long-distance navigation.
In later years, when the structure of the solar system was understood and small telescopes
were available, the positions of the moons of Jupiter became the clock, and remained the primary
timekeepers all the way up until the radio navigation systems in the mid-20th Century.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
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How does latitude and longitude apply to mathematics?
Once upon a time, before GPS, sailors spent hours with mathematical tables to work out their position (latitude & longitude) from the angle of the sun or stars above the horizon. If they got it wrong, they might get lost and run out of food, or hit a rock in fog and sink. If the Earth is approximated as a sphere (it's actually a bit flat on top), latitude and longitude can be calculated using spherical geometry. In practice, sailors used tables of precalculated functions, e.g. haversines, and worksheets which reduce the problem to following rules and doing a lot of arithmetic.
What instrument used for calculating longitude at sea?
Historically, latitude was always measured with the sextant, and longitude with the chronograph (clock). Nowadays, it's all GPS. ------------------- The "sextant", from the latin word for "six", is one-sixth of a circle, and is the primary tool used in celestial navigation. However, before the sextant came into widespread use, the "quadrant" of a quarter-circle and the later "octant", an eighth of a circle, were used.
What are the disadvantages and advantage of inertial Navigation System?
the disadvantages is it need to give data before flight
What came first latitude and longitude or GPS coordinates?
Latitude and longitude came first. A very long time before such things as satellites, computers and smart phones ever existed.
What is Apollo 5 longitude and longitude?
There was no real Apollo 5 mission. All flights before Apollo 7 were unmanned equipment test flights that never left Earth orbit.
How did sailors find there longitude before radio navigation aids were invented?
They often used an instrument know as a sextant which used the stars to help navigate. Follow the related link (below) for more information.
What did sailors rely on before compasses were invented?
Sailors rely on stars before compasses were invented, some sailors rely on landmarks too! (But most sailors who rely on landmarks get lost, just think of it your in the Atlantic ocean there are no land marks just water, they did that about five ((5)) years then saw a pattern in the stars to help them get where there going, so before the compass they used stars.)
How did the sailor find their longitude before radio navigation aid were invented?
Using a sextant, a chart, and a watch, he could tell his co-ordinates by using the sun. If it was night time, I guess he could tell North by using the North Star.
How did sailors find their latitude before radio navigation aids were invented?
By navigation using the stars. Sailors measured the position of the stars above the horizon using a sextant, from a table of known postions of the stars. This method also requires that you know the time of day, which is taken from a known point at Greenwich in England (Greenwich Mean Time GMT). Every place on earth takes its time from being plus or minus so many hours from GMT.
How was it before the compass was invented?
sailors had to study the stars. if it was cloudy one day and you couldn't see the stars you had to guess which direction
What British law not enforced before 1763?
Navigation Act
Do the explorers have any training before they start their journey?
No. Some had been sailors on other ships. Columbus is reported to have gone to Prince Henry's school of navigation, but for the most part it took a lot of guts to get on a small ship with sailors that were not always the nicest people and who came out of jail that morning and to go without knowing where they were going.
What did the people use before compasses were invented?
Before compasses were invented, people used natural navigation methods such as observing the position of the sun, moon, and stars, as well as landmarks and natural signs like wind patterns and animal behavior to navigate and find directions.
Was the navigation act after the quartering act?
no the navigation act was before the quartering act
Were the hebrews the first great sailors and traders?
No, the Phoenicians were sailors and traders long before the Hebrews.
What did navigators rely on to find their way before compasses were invented?
Sighting the sun or stars, but that only gave latitude. To get longitude required an ultra precise chronometer.
How does latitude and longitude apply to mathematics?
Once upon a time, before GPS, sailors spent hours with mathematical tables to work out their position (latitude & longitude) from the angle of the sun or stars above the horizon. If they got it wrong, they might get lost and run out of food, or hit a rock in fog and sink. If the Earth is approximated as a sphere (it's actually a bit flat on top), latitude and longitude can be calculated using spherical geometry. In practice, sailors used tables of precalculated functions, e.g. haversines, and worksheets which reduce the problem to following rules and doing a lot of arithmetic.
