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You need to know the variation (also referred to as declination) for your location. Once you have that, you add East variation (or plus) to your magnetic compass reading, and subtract West variation (or minus) from your magnetic compass reading to get true compass reading. To find North, simply line your magnetic compass up so that the needle is on North and then either add or subtract your variation to get the true North reading. See the links below to find the variation for your position.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago-- In general, a magnetic compass doesn't point North. It points toward the earth's
north magnetic pole, which is located several hundred miles away from the real north
pole, and actually drifts around slowly to slightly different locations from year to year.
A magnetic compass only points to the earth's real north pole when you happen to be
in a place from which the magnetic pole and the real pole just happen to be in the same
direction.
-- You get a compass to point accurately toward the magnetic pole by resting it freely
on a low-friction bearing, and making sure there are no magnets or large metal objects
nearby.
Wiki User
∙ 7y agoAnything from -180 degrees, passing through zero, to +180 degrees; depending on where exactly you are. Note: In most places, the angle is fairly small (a few degrees), but close to the magnetic poles it can be rather large.
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoIts a small magnet lining up with the Earth's magnetic field.
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoMagnetic north is the direction the neddle is pointing
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoThe earth gravitation field creates a north and south pole. The needle in a compass is pulled by this field so that the needle points north.
Wiki User
∙ 7y agoThat depends where you are on the planet.
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A way to find the variation from true north?
Compass.
Where do you find information on the angular relationships of true north grid north and magnetic north?
The declination diagram
Where can you find information of the angular relationships of true north grid north and magnetic north?
The declination diagram
True or false Declination is the difference between true north and magnetic north?
true
What is the difference between true north and magnatic north?
well one is that the true north is the north pole.And the magnetic north is the N on a magnet.
What does orienting mean on a map?
It means turning it around so that it is aligned with the real world. You'd use a compass for this to find magnetic north, then find true north and then align the map north to that
In order to find true north with a compass you must use an angle of correction called?
angle of magnetic declination
What if true north and magnetic north meet?
nothing special except with a compass you could find your way to the true north pole
True north refers to?
the geographic north pole True North is geographic north as opposed to magnetic north. Since a compass uses magnetism to find North, the North that it finds is the magnetic North.
A way to find the variation from true north?
Compass.
Where can you find the information on angular relationships of true North grid North and magnetic north?
The declination diagram
Where do you find information on the angular relationships of true north grid north and magnetic north?
The declination diagram
Where can you find information on the angular relationships of true north grid north and magnetic north?
The declination diagram
Where can you find information of the angular relationships of true north grid north and magnetic north?
The declination diagram
Do I add or subtract the declination constant for Dallas Texas to find true north?
You don't need to worry about declination to find true north; just observe the north star, and that's it. Perhaps you're starting with a magnetic compass and want to find true north? The correction factor is "magnetic variation", or "magvar", and this is printed on your charts.
How can you use the stars to find north?
you can find the north by using stars.POLARIS
Find True North Without a Compass?
Normally you can use the position of the Sun, but one must be able to see it, alternatively you can use the natural environment around you and observe the tree sap which indicates the direction. The sun is normally pointing at you from the South, but you should consider the time of day and year. At night simply find Polaris. More accurate than the vast majority of methods. First off a compass isn't very good to use in finding true north as a compass doesn't point true north, it points to the magnetic north. And even if you have the compass correction for true north, magnetic north drifts a considerable amount and corrections become out-of-date quite quickly. To be really, really accurate at the placement of true north you would have to observe polaris over as much of a night as you can see the star in. The path of the star over the night sky will make a portion of a circle. If you can fix the center of that circle then you have true north to as high a degree as you can eliminate error.
