Have you ever been stuck in the middle of a forest and didn't know where to go? The way to find directions when there are no directions is to use a compass.
What is a compass...?
Compass is a navigation tool or directions. The simplest form of tool utilizes the Earth's magnetic field to indicate the direction of north.
A free magnetic needle, for example, placed on the surface of water, will rotate and its tip will point towards the north of the Earth. This happens because the Earth's magnet has two poles, namely the north pole and the south pole.
The magnetic needle will always be parallel to the two poles of the magnet. The tip of the needle will always point to the north because of the magnetic force of the Earth's north pole.
The compass was first discovered by the inhabitants of ancient China since 247 BC. However, the compass only began to be used as a navigational tool by China and Europe in the 11th century. This magnetic compass is used in various vehicles, such as aircraft, ships, and even land vehicles.
In the 15th century, it was realized that the north pole indicated by a compass was different from the geographic north pole of the Earth. However, this difference is not so great that a magnetic compass can still be used. Upon further investigation, it turns out that the magnetic north pole is located further west than the Earth's north pole.
The difference between magnetic poles and geographic poles is called declination. While the magnetic difference due to the local magnetic field is called the deviation. These differences need to be a concern when using a magnetic compass as a navigation tool.
However, this error or discrepancy has been resolved along with the development of magnets. The technology that is able to overcome this difference and correct the compass direction is the gyroscope magnet.