Technology

What do you use a compass for?

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Correct answer

Navigation

Explanation

The magnetic compass contains a magnet that interacts with the earth's magnetic field. It consists of a magnet (a needle) which can spin freely and aligns itself to point to the magnetic poles. Earth's magnetic poles are not exactly equivalent to the geographic north pole, and therefore, the compass will show a tiny error in terms of direction, an error that grows the closer you get to the north pole.

Statistics

95% correct 52 correct · 3 incorrect

Question added 2009-01-06