The history of the compass

Nombres: Snayder Placencia y Mateo García

Curso: 2do “A”

The compass is an orientation instrument that uses a

magnetic needle to indicate the earth's magnetic north.
Its operation is based on terrestrial magnetism, which is
why it points to the magnetic south that corresponds to
geographic north and is unproductive in the north and
south polar areas due to the convergence of the lines of
force of the terrestrial magnetic field.
Since the middle of the 20th century, the magnetic
compass began to be replaced by more advanced and
complete navigation systems, such as the gyroscopic
compass, which is calibrated with laser beams, and global
positioning systems. However, it is still very popular in
activities that require high mobility or that prevent, due
to their nature, access to electrical energy, on which the
other systems depend.
It was created in China, approximately in the 2nd century,
in order to determine directions in the open sea. Initially
it consisted of a magnetized needle floating in a vessel
filled with water, later it was improved to reduce its size
and make it easier to use, changing the water vessel for a
rotating axis and adding a "wind rose" that serves as a
guide for calculate directions. Currently the compasses
have received small improvements that, although they do
not change their operating system, make the
measurements to be carried out easier. Among these
improvements are lighting systems for data collection in
dark environments, and optical systems for
measurements in which the references are objects
located in the distance.
Before the creation of the compass, the direction in the
open sea was determined with the position of the
celestial bodies. Sometimes navigation was supported by
the use of probes. The main difficulties that arose with
the use of these methods were that the water was too
deep for the use of probes, and that many times the sky
was too cloudy, or the weather was very foggy. The
compass was used mainly to alleviate these problems, so
that cultures that did not suffer from them adopted the
use of said instrument little. Such is the case of the Arabs,
who generally relied on clear skies when navigating the
Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. For their part, sailors
in the relatively shallow Baltic Sea made extensive use of
probes. The astrolabe, an ancient Greek invention, also
aided in navigation.