When you use a compass to find out what directin you are facing, you are finding a what?
814938
These are called bearings
986380
It will align with whatever magnetic field it is closest to or align itself on a piece of metal. If it isn't close to either of these, it will point in any random direction.
176063
You are not looking in the right place.
47345
All humans have a trace amount of magnetite in their noses, found in the ethmoid bone (between the eyes), possibly part of a rudimentary compass to allow direction finding relative to the earth's magnetic field. The human magnetoception is still very controversial, but some studies show that some people have the ability to orient themselves-even when blindfolded and removed from such external clues as sunlight-to within a few degrees of the North Pole, exactly as a compass does.
112005
you need a map of where you are camipng to read a compass correctly.  to read a compass stand still untill the compass stops moving.  then read where you want to go 0 is north 90 is east 180 is south 270 is west and 360 is again north
38995
In this situation a compass needle will not point to anywhere on the dial very strongly - it will just wander around weakly with no real direction. Explorers now need GPS to determine the exact pole location; it shifts slightly every year.\n\nDC :-)
115436
With a Magnetometer. See below for more detail.
680343
North and south geographic poles. A compass points towards the North magnetic pole, which is why you must correct for your magnetic declination to find true north using a compass. \n\nSince probably 1000 AD, navigation, however has relied on watching the skies more than watching a compass. Therefore, due north or south  is always the direction to that point in the sky that all the stars circle, projected down to the surface of the earth, and those positions in the sky are projections of the geographic pole (Polaris is actually about 0.8 degrees off the north celestial pole. If north was based on polaris, north would change by as much as 1.6 degrees depending on what time it is!)
1137014
Where will a compass point at the South Pole?\n\nNorth!\n\nAt the geographic South Pole a magnetic compass points at the South Magnetic Pole, off the coast of Antarctica in the Antarctic Ocean south of Australia (very close to the direction of Adelaide).
634409
Cool! But if the map is on my back, how can i see the coordinates and point them out?
998766
it depends. Will you be facing north or south on the planet's surface? Then figure out if your left hand is up, and the right is down, or vice versa. If it is, you can count on a retrograde rotation.
627309
Set your internal biological compass to your GPS coordinates. The next time you boot, you'll know.\n\nSeriously, go online and get a map of your neighborhood. Look at the direction of your street. Presumably you know which way the room is oriented to the street.
239106
Gravity,it is often diffacult to tell which direction you are faceing, the teory is to whatch the saliver to see which way it goes.so you digg in the opposite direction and not bury your self ferther
265349
"have you ever seen a compass dance before"? that would be my guess. it would just spin around
1069386
I take it you are speaking of a normal compass, just one that happens to be very old.\n\nStand still and hold it so it is relatively flat in your hand (I find it works best for me if I hold a compass in my palm).\n\nThe needle should automatically move to magnetic north.\n\nTurn so you are facing the same way the needle points, and you will be facing north, as well. Due west will be directly to your left, south will be directly behind you, and east will be directly to your right. \n\nYou need to have an idea of where the location you are trying to reach is if you want to get there by using a compass, and a map is really helpful. Say that your object lies to the NE of where you are standing. If you are facing north, and east is on your right, then NE is between the two. Find an object in the distance to orient yourself to NE, and begin to move in that direction. \n\nTake regular compass readings, so you know that you haven't strayed off course and begun moving to the north or the east again.\n\nIf you want to learn to use a compass effectively, I really suggest you take some time and go out in the woods. Stay close to where your car is, preferably on a marked trail, so you don't get lost, and practice finding your direction.\n\nCompasses are great, but if you plan on being out in the wild a lot, and need a really sure way of knowing where you are located, I strongly suggest you look into a small GPS (global positioning system) unit. GPS uses satellites to fix your location anywhere on the planet, and for around $100, you can get one that is accurate down to about 10 feet. Many GPS units also have all sorts of neat add-ons so you can mark spots where you saw interesting things, or find spots of interesting locations. \n\nHope this explains it a little for you.
607749
Because on the little compass North actually faces up. And we refer to south as down and east/west as right/left.It's just because of the way they face. North is the up direction. Get it?
516822
Goring was almost right. Compasses do work there most of the time. The anomolies occur when gas is released from the buried gas hydrates, most often after an undersea landslide (very common off the Mississipi delta). The gas bubbles become electrically charged as they rise through the water and at the point where they emerge there are localised magnetic distubances which cause erratic behaviour in compasses.