We have known this amazing and simple device since childhood. We may not use it every day, but we still know its purpose and have probably held it in our hands at least once. Today, an electronic version of such a device is found in most smartphone models.
There are several types of compasses, which differ in the principle of operation - these are a regular magnetic compass, a gyrocompass, a radio compass, a satellite compass. All these models may differ somewhat in accuracy, but it is still quite possible to use all of them.
The purpose of a compass is to determine the cardinal directions. Such a definition is necessary especially in cases where there are no objects around that can serve as landmarks. If in the forest such orientation could somehow be organized, then on the open sea everything was much more difficult. Of course, people from an early age learned to navigate by the stars and the sun, but what was to be done on gloomy and gloomy days, when neither the stars at night nor the sun during the day were visible at all?
In addition to the open sea, desert travelers also experienced the need for orientation. Here it is also very difficult to adhere to the exact direction of movement without such a tool. Just think - there is only sand around you at a distance where only your eyes can see. How can you not get lost in the endless sea of sand, which is simply everywhere here? Making travel even more difficult are sandstorms that force travelers to take shelter from the sand, becoming completely disoriented.
This is precisely the need that arose among Chinese travelers who traveled through the deserts during the Song Dynasty, which is approximately the third century BC. Interestingly, this era is marked by the most famous Chinese inventions. In addition to the compass, the printing press was invented during this period, which served to widely disseminate scientific and other literature. Confucianism was also reformed during this period.
Who invented the first compass
So what was the first compass? Oddly enough, the first compass was a spoon placed on a polished plate. We know this quite reliably. The fact is that we have reached a description of the first compass, which was made by the Chinese philosopher Fei Tzu. So, this spoon was a pouring one, it was well polished in the lower convex part. The spoon was made of magnetite and had a thin handle.
The base of the first compass was a polished copper plate. A wooden plate could also be used. A spoon was placed in the center of the polished plate with its convex side down. The balance of the spoon was selected in such a way that its handle did not touch the plate, but was always suspended. This position allowed the spoon to rotate freely, acting as a compass needle.
The plate itself was also not ordinary. Many different notches and markings were applied to its upper part. In addition to the designations of the cardinal directions, designations of the zodiac signs and other inscriptions were also applied to the plate.
The principle of operation of such a compass was extremely simple. The spoon, which could easily rotate around its axis on a polished surface, was set in motion. After she made several free turns, she stopped, clearly pointing to the south with her handle. Today on the Internet you can find many photographs of copies of old Chinese compasses, and you can also see a monument to the first compass, which is located in China, and is a huge copy of such a compass mounted on a stone pedestal.
From the 14th century to the present day - a modern compass
As time passed, the Chinese compass gradually changed its appearance and by the middle of the eleventh century it already looked like a jar of water into which a fish-shaped arrow was lowered. This fish was made from an artificial magnet. The fish could swim freely and this allowed it to always clearly navigate, each time turning its head in the direction of the south.
This type of compass was mainly used by Chinese sailors. Vessels with such fish were installed at the stern of ships or at the bow so that captains could accurately navigate the sea, no matter what the weather was like.
According to historical chronicles, the compass appeared in Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. At first, such a compass on Chinese ships was seen and adopted by the Arabs, and a little later by the Europeans. Interestingly, the Italians called this device a “floating needle” and began to make similar devices themselves in their own way.
In its design it was very similar to the Chinese model. A magnetized needle was attached to a piece of wood and lowered into a vessel with water. Now this vessel has a glass lid in order to prevent wind and other interference from somehow affecting the arrow readings. Over time, another version of the compass appeared without using a container of water. A point was placed on the paper sheet in the center. A magnetized arrow was placed on this tip, which in this position could also rotate relatively freely. Over time, the design was improved and received other devices, such as a gimbal suspension, which made it possible to conveniently use the compass on the ship even during heavy rolling.
The compass as we know it today was patented in 1908 by Hermann Anschütz-Kämpfe. This German engineer-inventor spent a lot of time on expeditions. An interesting point is the fact that the famous physicist Albert Einstein took part in the creation of the compass together with Herman. The compass went into mass production and was called the “Einstein-Anschutz compass.” Modern models of mechanical compasses differ little from this model, although they may have greater accuracy and reliability.
How else can you use a compass?
Today, the compass is still an indispensable tool for every navigator and traveler. But it also has other uses. For example, the practice of feng shui is gaining popularity these days. The reader has probably heard about such a practice, which also came to us from distant China.
The essence of this practice comes down to a kind of symbolic exploration of space. The ancient Chinese believed that all household items should be located in clearly defined areas relative to the cardinal directions. And here, in order to correctly determine the location of this or that object, a compass was used. It must have a degree scale from 0 to 360. In addition, the accuracy of such a compass must be extremely high. Otherwise, all zones will be defined incorrectly, which may lead to the opposite effect.
For those who practice Feng Shui professionally, there is a special Luopan compass. It is characterized by high accuracy and has all the necessary symbols and tips, which greatly facilitate the work of a specialist. On the Internet you can find many recommendations on exactly how to place objects in the house so that it is fully consistent with ancient Chinese traditions.
You can also use a compass when designing a home or doing renovations. For example, with this device you can accurately determine the location of the sun at different times of the day. If you want the rays of the sun to gently wake you up in the morning, then you need to determine where the east is and place your bedroom windows exactly there. You can do the same with the living room, the windows of which can be facing west and you can watch the colorful sunset every evening while sitting in an armchair or sofa.
As you can see, a compass is an amazing device that has not undergone significant changes since its invention and is still actively used in a wide variety of areas of human activity. Agree, there are few such inventions that have survived from ancient centuries to the present day in practically unchanged form.
Thanks to this invention, new lands were discovered - sailors could dare to sail to the open sea. Who knows how many more discoveries you could make for yourself using this amazing tool!
Instructions
The idea of creating a compass belongs to the ancient Chinese. In the 3rd century BC. one of the Chinese philosophers described the compass of that time as follows. It was a magnetite pouring spoon, which had a thin handle and a well-polished spherical convex part. The spoon rested with its convex part on the same carefully polished surface of a copper or wooden plate, while the handle of the plate did not touch, but hung freely above it. In this way, the spoon could rotate around its convex base. On the plate itself the cardinal directions were drawn in the form of zodiac signs. If you specifically pushed the handle of the spoon, it began to rotate, and when it stopped, the handle always pointed exactly to the south.
Everyone in China in the 11th century came up with a floating compass needle. It was made from an artificial magnet, usually in the shape of a fish. She was placed in a vessel with water, where she floated freely, and when she stopped, she also always pointed her head to the south. Other forms of the compass were invented in the same century by the Chinese scientist Shen Gua. He proposed magnetizing an ordinary sewing needle on a natural magnet, and then attaching this needle in the center of the body to a silk thread using wax. This resulted in less turning of the needle than in water, and therefore the compass showed a more accurate direction. Another model proposed by the scientist involved attaching it not to a silk thread, but to a hairpin, which is more reminiscent of the modern form of a compass.
Almost all Chinese ships in XI had floating compasses installed. It is in this form that they spread throughout the world. They were first adopted by the Arabs in the 12th century. Later, the magnetic needle became known in European countries: first in Italy, then in Portugal, Spain, France, and later in England and Germany. At first, a magnetized needle on a piece of wood or cork floated in a vessel with water, later they decided to cover the vessel with glass, and even later they figured out placing a magnetic needle on a point in the center of a paper circle. Then the compass was improved by the Italians, a coil was added to it, which was divided into 16 (later 32) equal sectors pointing to the cardinal directions (first 4, and later 8 sectors for each side).
Further development of science and technology made it possible to create an electromagnetic version of the compass, which is more advanced in the sense that it does not provide for deviations due to the presence of ferromagnetic parts in the vehicle on which it is used. In 1908, the German engineer G. Anschutz-Kampfe created a prototype of a gyrocompass, the advantage of which was to indicate the direction not to the magnetic north pole, but to the true geographic one. The gyrocompass is almost universally used for navigation and control of large sea vessels. The modern era of new computer technologies has made it possible to come up with an electronic compass, the creation of which is associated primarily with the development of a satellite navigation system.
The text of the work is posted without images and formulas.
The full version of the work is available in the "Work Files" tab in PDF format
If you go on a hike, you ford a river,
To the left and onto the slope - Expand your horizons
Take me with you, I'll bring you home
I know the north, I know the south - You won’t get lost, my friend.
(Samuel Marshak)
In the lesson of the surrounding world, we comprehend the secrets of our common home - the wonderful planet Earth. When studying the section “How people understand the world”, the topic “Device and Tools”, I was interested in the question from the textbook, “What other devices do you know?” And I remembered about the compass.
Goal of the work: Realize the importance of man's discovery of the compass and its role in the development of civilization
Tasks:
Study additional literature. Learn to navigate in space without a compass at hand. Make a homemade compass with your own hands.
Object of study: compass
Research hypothesis:
I assume that using a compass made from improvised materials you can determine the sides of the horizon at home.
Research methods: exploratory, descriptive, theoretical and practical.
Chapter 1
History of the creation of the compass
Man began to travel a very long time ago. Most of the first sea travelers went astray. The man realized that without a special device he was doomed to a long search for the right path. Thus, an amazing ancient invention, the compass, was invented to determine the sides of the horizon.
Presumably it was first created in Ancient China back in the 3rd century BC. The word “compass” itself comes from the ancient British “compass”, meaning circle (see Fig. 1 Appendix No. 1).
The Chinese knew that a magnet attracts iron. They knew the property of a magnet - to indicate the direction of north and south. The Chinese compass was a long-handled spoon made of magnetized iron. The spoon was placed on a smooth wooden stand with divisions with zodiac signs, spun it, and it stopped. The convex part of the spoon rotated easily on the plate. The stalk always pointed south. In this form, the Chinese compass in the 12th century. borrowed by the Arabs.
In the 14th century Italian Flavio Gioia improved this device. He placed the magnetic needle on the vertical pin. This improved the performance of the compass. A card (light circle) was attached to the arrow, divided into 16 points (see Fig. 2 Appendix No. 2).
Two centuries later, the division of the card was 32 points. Already by the 18th century, the compass became a rather complex device, indicating not only the direction, but also the time.
The device of Andrianov's compass
In our country, the most common compass is the Andrianov system. (see Fig. 3 Appendix No. 3).
It consists of 5 parts: compass body, sighting ring, magnetic needle, dial (dial), clamp.
A properly working compass always has a blue arrow pointing north, while a red arrow, accordingly, points exactly the opposite - to the south.
1.3 Operating principle
Before using the compass, you need to check it, place it on a horizontal surface and wait until the needle freezes, showing where north is. Then you need to bring any metal object to the device. Under the influence of a magnet, the arrow will deflect in its direction. We remove metal from the field of action and observe our arrow.
If our compass is working properly, then the arrow will certainly turn to its original position to the north.
Chapter 2: 2.1 Practical part. Orientation based on local natural features
Professions such as geologist, pilot and sailor are inextricably linked with knowledge of the compass .
Sometimes when hiking or in the forest, it is important to know the exact direction of the path so as not to get lost. You can understand where is north and where is south using local signs (see Fig. 4,5,6,7,8 Appendix No. 4. ) Mosses and lichens grow on tree trunks, stumps, and stones on the north side. Birch trees have whiter, cleaner bark on the south side than on the north side. The tree crown is more luxuriant on the south side. Ants make homes to the south of the tree. Snow melts in the spring on the south-facing mountain slopes.
But not all signs are reliable, therefore, in order to orient yourself correctly, in sunny weather at noon, you need to stand with your back to the sun so that the shadow is exactly in front of the person. Then he will have north in front, south behind him, east on his right, west on his left. (see Fig. 9 Appendix No. 5).
2.2 Making a homemade compass
There are many ways to make a simple compass from improvised materials, at home and in the field. Let's look at it in detail.
To make a compass you will need a needle, paper, scissors, two red and blue beads, and a container of water. (see Fig. 10,11,12,13 Appendix No. 6.) The needle will serve as a magnetic needle - an indicator of the cardinal directions. The base for the arrow will be a light floating material, such as paper.
Pour water into a medium-sized container. The needle must be applied to the scissors and rubbed vigorously in one direction. This is how the magnetization process occurs (see Fig. 14 Appendix No. 7) .
Cut a circle out of paper and pierce it with our needle (see Fig. 15 Appendix No. 7) . Thread on a needle beads (see Fig. 16 Appendix No. 7).
Place the homemade compass in a container of water (see Fig. 17 Appendix No. 7) . A properly made compass should move for some time. If it stands still, the piece of metal must be magnetized again. If you did everything correctly, the compass placed on the water will rotate slowly. When the improvised magnetic needle stops moving, its magnetized side will point to the cardinal directions (south - a needle at the end of a fixed red bead, north - a corresponding blue bead) (see Fig. 18 Appendix No. 7).
In camping conditions, to make a compass you will need any piece of metal: a needle, a pin, a paper clip, metal wire, whatever is at hand. The base for the arrow will be a lightweight floating material, such as a sponge, cork, foam plastic, or a sheet of wood.
In order for a piece of metal to begin to function as an indicator of the cardinal directions, it must be sharpened and magnetized against fabric, fur, or iron. As a last resort, you can use your own hair for magnetization. A piece of metal must be applied to the selected object and rubbed vigorously in one direction and the metal lowered into the puddle. The magnetized end of the metal will point north.
CONCLUSION
In the course of my research work, I confirmed my hypothesis that with the help of a compass made from improvised materials, you can determine the sides of the horizon at home, and I learned the history of the creation and design of the compass. I learned how to use this device, which was difficult for me.
I believe that the knowledge gained will allow me and the guys to determine the cardinal directions with complete confidence in any place, regardless of weather conditions and time of day.
In the future, I plan to attend the school tourist sports club “Maximum”, headed by a geography teacher, member of the Russian Geographical Society of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Ilnur Gainislamovich Yusupov. Thanks to him, an associated school of the Russian Geographical Society is being created in our school.
Thank you for your attention!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://otvet.mail.ru/question/5173277
https://otvet.mail.ru/question/58499957
Degterev, N.D. Pointer magnetic compasses [Text] / N.D. Degterev. - Leningrad, 1984
Zarapin, V.G. Scientific experiments at the dacha [Text] / V.G. Zarapin, Pyannikova O.O., Yakovleva M.A. - Moscow, 2014
Kozhukhov, V.P. and others. Magnetic compasses [Text] / V.P. Kozhukhov. - Moscow, 1981
Feoktistova, V.F., Research and project activities of junior schoolchildren. Recommendations for teachers [Text] / V.F. Feoktistova. - Volgograd: Uchitel Publishing House, 2010
APPENDIX No. 1. An ancient invention of the Chinese.
Rice. 1 It was first created in Ancient China in the 3rd century BC
APPENDIX No. 2. Device of the Italian Flavio Gioia
Rice. 2 In the 14th century. Italian Flavio Gioia improved this device. He placed the magnetic needle on the vertical pin. I attached a card (light circle) to the arrow, divided into 16 points.
APPENDIX No. 3. Andrianov’s compass
Rice. 3 The device of Andrianov’s compass
APPENDIX No. 4. Orientation based on local characteristics
Mosses and lichens grow on tree trunks, stumps, and stones on the north side
Birch trees have whiter, cleaner bark on the south side than on the north side.
The tree crown is more luxuriant on the south side.
Ants make homes to the south of the tree.
Snow melts in the spring on the south-facing mountain slopes.
APPENDIX No. 5. Orientation in sunny weather
Rice. 9 In sunny weather at noon, you need to stand with your back to the sun so that the shadow is exactly in front of the person. Then he will have north in front, south behind him, east on his right, and west on his left.
APPENDIX No. 6. To make a compass you need
Rice. 10 Water container
Rice. 11 Scissors
Rice. 12 Needle, two beads red and blue
Fig.13 Paper
APPENDIX No. 7. Making a compass at home
Fig. 14 The needle is intensively three in one direction. This is how the process works
magnetization.
Rice. 15 Cut out a circle from paper and pierce it with our needle
Rice. 16 Thread beads onto a needle
Rice. 17 We lower the homemade compass into a container of water.
Fig. 18 The magnetized side of the needle always stops, pointing exactly north
(the word “cybernetics” translated from Greek means “helmsman” or “helmsman”). This science required the emergence of special instruments that would help travelers find the right path. One of them was a compass - a device indicating the direction of the geographic or magnetic meridian. Modern compasses are magnetic, mechanical, radio and others.
The word "compass" apparently comes from the old English word compass, which meant in the XIII-XIV centuries. "circle".
The first mention of the invention of the compass in Europe dates back to the 12th century. This device was simply a magnetized iron needle mounted on a stopper, floating in a vessel of water. Then they came up with the idea of strengthening the arrow on an axis fixed to the bottom of the bowl.
However, in China the compass was known much earlier. They called him "chi-an". Chinese chronicles attribute its invention to the semi-mythical Bogdykhan (emperor) Huang Di, who reigned 2600 years BC.
Such a legend has been preserved in Chinese chronicles. Emperor Huang Di fought with one Mongol khan. After the defeat, the Mongols began to retreat into the desert, and Chinese troops pursued them for a long time. However, the Mongol horsemen played a trick: they raised such dust that it obscured the sun. When the dust cleared, the Mongols were already out of sight. The pursuers rushed in one direction or the other, but nowhere did they encounter even signs of human habitation. They realized that they were lost. They ran out of food and began to suffer from unbearable thirst. And then Emperor Huang Di remembered the tiny iron man that one sage gave him. This little man, no matter how you put him, always pointed his hand to the south. The emperor mounted the little man on his chariot and led the exhausted army in the direction where the little man's hand was pointing. And soon everyone saw familiar places.
The legend, of course, cannot serve as a reliable source. But there is other information that the compass was actually invented in China, approximately 100-200 years BC - 3 thousand years later than indicated in the legend. But even in this case, the Chinese are still the discoverers of the compass.
Model of a compass from the Chinese Han Dynasty.
It is also known that about 800 years ago, Arab sailors used a compass. Perhaps they adopted this invention from the Chinese, all of whose ships in the 11th century were equipped with compasses. The Arabic device was made in the shape of an iron fish. The magnetized fish was lowered into the water, and each time it invariably turned its head to the north. Venetian merchants probably learned about this device from the Arabs, who brought it to Italy. From here the compass became known throughout the Mediterranean countries, and from there throughout Europe. In any case, the first mention of the use of a magnetic needle in navigation is found in the work of the Englishman Alexander Neckam, written in 1180, and he writes about it as something already known.
The prototype of the modern compass was invented by the Italian Flavio Gioia in the 14th century (they even name the exact year - 1302). Before this, the compass served only to determine the north-south direction. And Gioia proposed dividing the compass circle into 16 parts (points of reference) to determine other cardinal points. In addition, he placed the compass needle on a pin for better rotation.
In Italy there is a beautiful legend associated with the name of Flavio Gioia.
A long time ago, when the city of Amalfi stood, like Venice, on the seashore, there lived a poor man, Flavio Gioia, a goldsmith and inlaymaker. He was in love with the beautiful Angela, the daughter of the rich fisherman Domenico. The stern Domenico considered second-class people those who did not go to sea with oars or sails, and did not experience themselves in storms and tempests. And Flavio Joya, unfortunately, belonged to this category of people. Domenico did not want to have such a son-in-law, but he decided to refuse the suitor for his daughter’s hand diplomatically and therefore set a condition: Flavio must sail a boat strictly in a straight line at least once at night or in the fog. At that time, such a task was impossible. Even his comrades, experienced sailors, failed to do this.
But Flavio accepted the challenge. He took an oblong lodestone, which he mounted horizontally on a round flat plug. He installed a graduated disk on the top surface of the cork. This is how the sensitive element of the magnetic compass turned out - the card.
So that the card could rotate in a horizontal plane, Flavio pierced it with a vertical axis with sharp ends, which rested on supports installed in the body of the device - the cup. However, due to the pressure of the card on the lower support, a large friction moment arose, which prevented the rotation of the card and caused large errors in the device. Then Flavio poured water into the cup. The plug floated up, the pressure on the lower support decreased, and the rotation of the card became smooth and free. In one place on the edge of the cup, Flavio drew a thin line, and divided the entire circumference of the disk of the card into 16 equal parts - points.
The day of testing has arrived. Flavio got into the boat and positioned his device so that the thin line on the cup coincided with the longitudinal axis of the boat. The card, swaying around its axis, stopped in such a position that one end of the oblong magnetic stone pointed to the north. Flavio noticed the rhumba, which was established against the thin line on the cup, and set off. He just had to steer the boat so that while moving against the thin line on the cup there would be the same point.
So Flavio completed the task and married Angela.
Many researchers believe that Flavio Gioia is a fictitious figure... However, this did not stop grateful Italian descendants from erecting two monuments to the inventor of the compass: in Naples and in Gioia’s homeland - in the city of Amalfi.
Monument to Flavio Gioia in Amalfi (Italy)
Yes, yes, this is not a mistake: the science of the laws of control processes and information transfer - cybernetics - got its name from the ancient Greek name for the art of navigation!
The history of the invention of the compass goes back a long way. The first description of a compass was made in the 3rd century BC by the Chinese philosopher Hen Fei-tzu. It was a pouring spoon made of magnetite with a narrow handle, shaped like a ball.
It was installed on a plate made of copper and wood, on which the zodiac signs were marked. In this case, the handle was suspended and could rotate in a circle. The spoon was set in motion, and it always pointed south when it stopped. This was the very first compass in the world.
In the middle of the 11th century, a floating needle was made from an artificial magnet in China. Most often it took the form of a fish. She was lowered into the water where she floated. The fish's head always pointed south. At the same time, a scientist from China Shen Gua came up with several versions of the compass. He magnetized a sewing needle and used wax to attach it to a hanging thread of silk. It was a more accurate compass because the resistance encountered when turning was reduced. In another version, he suggested putting this needle on a hairpin. Based on his experiments, the inventor Shen Gua noticed that the arrow pointed south with a slight deviation. He was able to explain this by the difference between the magnetic and geographical meridians. Later, scientists learned to calculate this deviation for different parts of China. In the 11th century, many Chinese ships had floating compasses. They were placed on the bow of the ship so that the captain could always look at his readings.
In the 12th century, the Chinese invention was used by the Arabs, and in the 13th century by the Europeans. In Europe, the Italians were the first to learn about the compass, then the Spaniards, the French, and then the British and Germans. Then the compass was a cork and a magnetized needle floating in a container of water. Soon, to protect it from the wind, they began to cover it with glass.
At the beginning of the 14th century, a magnetized arrow was installed on a circle of paper, and after some time the Italian Flavio Gioia divided the circle into 16 parts, and then into 32 sectors. In the middle of the 16th century, the arrow was fixed on a gimbal to reduce the influence of pitching, and a century later in the history of the compass, the appearance of a rotating ruler was noted, which increased the accuracy of the readings. The compass became the first navigation device for finding a way on the open sea. This allowed sailors to go on long voyages across the ocean.
