Helix Oxford Metal Compass & Pencil, Black

Product Information

The school compasses (models 550 50, 550 55, 550 60, 559 WP 00) in our product range are specifically designed for younger children. These extra-safe precision compasses have a blunt safety needle to prevent injury. The resource gives children a map of a general school with areas included like the staff room, main hall, field and several classrooms. The children can use the compass to work out and practise directional language, including North-west, south-east, to get to their destinations. A lovely and memorable way for children to get confident using directions. Very early compasses were made of a magnetized needle attached to a piece of wood or cork that floated freely in a dish of water. As the needle would settle, the marked end would point toward magnetic north. Astrocompasses are aligned with fixed points in the sky, for example, stars. These are harder to use than the usual magnetic compass, but are quite useful in polar regions where magnetic and gyrocompasses aren’t so reliable. The needle in a compass is made of magnetised metal, usually iron, placed on a pivot or pin, and suspended in liquid (usually some kind of mineral oil or white spirit) so it can freely turn. The compass' needle can detect the magnetic field of the Earth and faces the Magnetic North, when held level in your hand. The person using the device can then work out all the other directions.

The Classroom-Themed Compass Directions Worksheets is a fab and fun worksheet that will help children get to grips with compass directions. The Earth is a giant magnet that has two centres of force; the North and South Poles. The core of the planet, which is mainly molten iron, creates a magnetic field as it spins around. This is what makes the north and south magnetic poles and how compasses are able to work. Compasses are drawing instruments that are primarily used to perform the following tasks in geometry: The degree dial is the twistable dial surrounding the compass housing that displays all 360 degrees of the circle.Case with hinged lid containing 1 precision compass with lead part, extension bar, universal adapter and spares box To put it simply, the compass is a tool which points out directions, such as North, South, East and West. These are also known as the cardinal directions. Historians think China may have been the first civilization to develop a magnetic compass that could be used for navigation. Chinese scientists may have developed navigational compasses as early as the 11th or 12th century. Western Europeans soon followed at the end of the 12th century.

In non-European countries, magnets were used in spiritual ways, such as for divination, geomancy and, in particular, Feng Shui, to help maximise good fortune.Our STAEDTLER compasses are also available in a plastic case with a hinged lid. Depending on the model, this includes a lead box with four HB leads as well as practical accessories for school and professional use: The screw through the hinge holds the two legs in position. The hinge can be adjusted, depending on desired stiffness; the tighter the hinge-screw, the more accurate the compass's performance. The better quality compass, made of plated metal, is able to be finely adjusted via a small, serrated wheel usually set between the legs (see the "using a compass" animation shown above) and it has a (dangerously powerful) spring encompassing the hinge. This sort of compass is often known as a "pair of Spring-Bow Compasses". Maps were able to be created thanks to the compass. It even helped establish the fact that the Earth is a globe and not flat. Compasses today can be found in many modern appliances as well as being their own thing. You can find them in smartphones and in handy tools for DIY and crafting. The History of the Compass

Our precision geometry compasses are ideal for geometry class at school as well as for technical drawing. These sturdy plastic and metal or solid metal models include a spindle guide consisting of a spring-bow head and centre wheel. On some models, the lead and needle legs are hinged. By the 15th century, explorers realized the “north” indicated by a compass was not the same as Earth’s true geographic north. This discrepancy between magnetic north and true north is called variation (by mariners or pilots) or magnetic declination (by land navigators) and varies depending on location. Variation is not significant when using magnetic compasses near the Equator, but closer to the North and South Poles, the difference is much greater and can lead someone many kilometers off-course. Navigators must adjust their compass readings to account for variation. Compasses-and-straightedge constructions are used to illustrate principles of plane geometry. Although a real pair of compasses is used to draft visible illustrations, the ideal compass used in proofs is an abstract creator of perfect circles. The most rigorous definition of this abstract tool is the "collapsing compass"; having drawn a circle from a given point with a given radius, it disappears; it cannot simply be moved to another point and used to draw another circle of equal radius (unlike a real pair of compasses). Euclid showed in his second proposition (Book I of the Elements) that such a collapsing compass could be used to transfer a distance, proving that a collapsing compass could do anything a real compass can do. A compass is a device that indicates direction. It is one of the most important instruments for navigation.

The earliest compass use recorded comes from the Chinese Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, around 200 BC. They discovered that some metal from the ground was naturally magnetic and so were able to use these metals, known as lodestone, or magnetite, to magnetise iron needles in the first types of compass. The Fleur-de-lis is often used to mark North on a compass. It is believed to have evolved from the original mark which was a spearhead above the letter T, which stood for the Latin name for the North wind ‘Tramontana’. The handle, a small knurled rod above the hinge, is usually about half an inch long. Users can grip it between their pointer finger and thumb. True North or Map North refers to the point at which all longitudinal lines meet on the map, at the North Pole. All maps are laid out the same, with True North at the top of the map. Unfortunately, because of slight variations in the magnetic field, your compass won't point to True North, it'll point to Magnetic North.

Case with hinged lid containing 1 precision compass with lead part, universal adapter and spares box Magnetic compasses are the most well known type of compass. They have become so popular that the term “compass” almost always refers a magnetic compass. While the design and construction of this type of compass has changed significantly over the centuries, the concept of how it works has remained the same. Magnetic compasses consist of a magnetized needle that is allowed to rotate so it lines up with Earth's magnetic field. The ends point to what are known as magnetic north and magnetic south.Distances can be measured on a map using compasses with two spikes, also called a dividing compass (or just "dividers"). The hinge is set in such a way that the distance between the spikes on the map represents a certain distance in reality, and by measuring how many times the compasses fit between two points on the map the distance between those points can be calculated. Magnetic compasses come in many forms. The most basic are portable compasses for use on casual hikes. Magnetic compasses can have additional features, such as magnifiers for use with maps, a prism or a mirror that allows you to see the landscape as you follow the compass reading, or markings in Braille for the visually impaired. The most complicated compasses are complex devices on ships or planes that can calculate and adjust for motion, variation, and deviation.