- #1
some bloke
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So, I have had a bit of a look around and can't come up with a concrete answer, so I thought I'd post my curiosity on here!
What is the direction that a compass points in 3 dimensional space, and how is this affected by proximity to North?
to clarify what I mean: We all know that compasses point north, but this is usually on a single axis, perpendicular to Gravity. if we had a compass which was free to rotate in 3 axes, would it point directly through the ground towards the north pole, or would it continue to be parallel to the Earth's surface? would this change as the compass was moved closer to the pole? I am assuming that it would point straight down at the pole.
Thanks!
What is the direction that a compass points in 3 dimensional space, and how is this affected by proximity to North?
to clarify what I mean: We all know that compasses point north, but this is usually on a single axis, perpendicular to Gravity. if we had a compass which was free to rotate in 3 axes, would it point directly through the ground towards the north pole, or would it continue to be parallel to the Earth's surface? would this change as the compass was moved closer to the pole? I am assuming that it would point straight down at the pole.
Thanks!