navigation location and direction
Hold the compass horizontally in front of you with the direction of travel arrow pointing away from you. Use this arrow to guide you to your destination. Turn your body until the north end of the magnetic needle is aligned with the orienting needle, and you'll be properly oriented toward the destination on the map. The compass is an instrument used for navigation; it generally has a magnetic needle that points toward the earth's magnetic North Pole. The magnetic compass has been in existence for nearly a thousand years and is the most common type of compass. The pointer is built into a rectangle of plastic called a compass card, printed with the cardinal points of the compass (north, south, east, and west), and the intercardinal points (north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west). To use a compass like this, you first figure out which direction is north. You let the needle settle then rotate the compass card so the needle lines up with the north-south axis and the end of the needle colored red, marked with an arrow, or printed 'N' points north. When the compass is used, the rose can be aligned with the corresponding geographic directions, so, for example, the N mark on the rose really points to the north. Frequently, in addition to the rose or sometimes instead of it, angle markings in degrees are shown on the compass. Stanley London. The compass is used for navigation, location and direction. People use it to find their way, whether it is on a hiking trail or on a trip to a new location. It is an instrument composed of a suspended magnetic pointer that is attracted to the polarity of the North Pole.
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Compass http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/The-Compass.htm http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-compasses-work.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass http://www.ehow.com/facts_4895046_why-do-people-use-compass.html
what do people use compasses for