Curious About Compasses

In episode 163, we get curious about compasses for Fergus of North Vancouver, Canada.  We learn what compasses are and how they work.  We learn why they were so important in world exploration.  We learn how people were able to tell direction before compasses were invented.  We also learn the difference between geographic north and magnetic north.  It's super interesting so give it a listen.

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Transcript

PODCAST 163: CURIOUS ABOUT COMPASSES

RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 14TH, 2021

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  IT’S NOVEMBER, WHICH MEANS WE ARE RAISING MONEY FOR A VERY WORTHY CHARITY.  STICK AROUND UNTIL THE END OF THIS EPISODE TO FIND OUT WHICH CHARITY WE ARE DONATING TO THIS YEAR AND HEAR ALL THE WAYS YOU CAN HELP US HELP THEM.  I’M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, BECAUSE WE ARE LEARNING ABOUT AN INVENTION THAT IS ABOUT A THOUSAND YEARS OLD AND HAS BEEN SO IMPORTANT THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY.  IT’S AN INVENTION THAT SEEMS PRETTY COMPLICATED BUT IS ACTUALLY REALLY SIMPLE.  

O:  MAILBAG!

D:  MAILBAG!

“HI JACOB AND OLIVIA, MY NAME IS FERGUS, AND I AM ALMOST 7 YEARS OLD - MY BIRTHDAY IS IN TWO WEEKS!  CAN YOU GET CURIOUS ABOUT COMPASSES?  I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THEM, LIKE HOW DO THEY WORK AND HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH WAY THEY ARE POINTING?  FROM FERGUS OF NORTH VANCOUVER, CANADA.”

O:  THANKS FOR THE AWESOME FACEBOOK MESSAGE, FERGUS.  WE CAN’T WAIT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COMPASSES FOR YOU.

D:  IF SOMEONE IS EVER LOST ON A BOAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN OR EVEN LOST SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS, THERE IS ONE INSTRUMENT THAT THEY ARE PROBABLY GOING TO WANT TO HAVE HANDY MORE THAN ANY OTHER, THE COMPASS.  

O:  THE COMPASS HELPS YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT DIRECTION YOU’RE FACING BY POINTING TO THE NORTH.

D:  SO, YOU MAY BE THINKING, WHAT ABOUT SOME OF OUR MORE MODERN INVENTIONS, LIKE GPS, THAT ALSO HELP US FIND OUR WAY AROUND?

O:  THE PROBLEM WITH GPS IS THAT IT NEEDS BATTERIES, OR ANOTHER POWER SOURCE, AND IT NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO GET SATELLITE SIGNALS TOO.

D:  AND THAT MEANS THAT A GPS WON’T BE ABLE TO HELP YOU IN ALL SITUATIONS.  THE AMAZING THING ABOUT THE COMPASS IS THAT IT CAN POINT TO THE NORTH NO MATTER WHERE ON EARTH YOU ARE.  IT’S SUCH A HELPFUL INVENTION AND IT’S SO SIMPLE AT THE SAME TIME.  IT DOESN’T NEED BATTERIES, OR SOME OTHER POWER SOURCE.  IT JUST WORKS.  IT’S SO SIMPLE THAT YOU CAN EVEN MAKE A COMPASS AT HOME WITH THINGS YOU JUST HAVE LAYING AROUND.    

O:  THE COMPASS WAS INVENTED IN CHINA ABOUT 1,000 YEARS AGO.  

D:  AT FIRST, IT WAS USED AS A BACKUP TO HELP FIND YOUR WAY WHEN OTHER LANDMARKS, LIKE THE SUN AND STARS COULDN’T BE SEEN.  IT IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT INVENTION THAT IT IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE FOUR GREAT INVENTIONS FROM ANCIENT CHINA.  THE FOUR GREAT INVENTIONS HAVE HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON OUR HISTORY.  THE OTHER THREE GREAT INVENTIONS ARE GUNPOWDER, PAPERMAKING, AND PRINTING.  OKAY OLIVIA, WHAT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK?

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, IF YOU ARE FACING NORTH, WHAT DIRECTION IS DIRECTLY BEHIND YOU?

D:  KNOWING WHERE NORTH IS SHOULD MAKE IT EASY TO FIGURE OUT ALL OF THE OTHER DIRECTIONS.  DO YOU KNOW WHICH DIRECTION WOULD BE DIRECTLY BEHIND YOU IF YOU ARE FACING NORTH?  OKAY, LET’S LEARN HOW COMPASSES DO THEIR THING.   

O:  IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE COMPASS WORKS, IT HELPS TO UNDERSTAND HOW MAGNETS WORK.  

D:  THANKFULLY, WE GOT CURIOUS ABOUT MAGNETS BACK IN EPISODE 145.  IF YOU HAVEN’T LISTENED TO IT YET, YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT BECAUSE IT WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THIS EPISODE A BIT BETTER.  LET’S GO OVER SOME OF THE BASICS.

O:  ALL MAGNETS HAVE TWO POLES, A NORTH POLE AND A SOUTH POLE.  

D:  THE NORTH POLE OF ONE MAGNET IS ATTRACTED TO THE SOUTH POLE OF ANOTHER MAGNET, SO THEY WILL TRY TO PULL CLOSER TO EACH OTHER.  IF YOU TRY TO CONNECT THE NORTH POLE OF ONE MAGNET WITH THE NORTH POLE OF ANOTHER, YOU WILL HAVE SOME TROUBLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL REPEL, OR PUSH AWAY FROM EACH OTHER.  THE SAME IS TRUE IF YOU TRY TO COMBINE TWO SOUTH POLES.  

O:  SO, HOW DOES ALL OF THIS HELP A COMPASS DETERMINE WHICH WAY IS NORTH?

D:  THE COMPASS IS ABLE TO POINT NORTH BECAUSE EARTH HAS IT’S OWN MAGNETIC FIELD.  IN OTHER WORDS, THE EARTH IS A GIGANTIC MAGNET. 

O:  THE MAGIC BEHIND THE COMPASS IS THAT IT IS A MAGNET THAT REACTS TO THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD.

D:  A COMPASS IS A ROUND OBJECT AND IT CONTAINS A LIGHTWEIGHT MAGNET.  THE MAGNET IS USUALLY A THIN NEEDLE THAT IS BALANCED ON A PIVOT POINT THAT ALLOWS IT TO MOVE ROUND AND ROUND.  ONE OF THE NEEDLE ENDS USUALLY HAS THE LETTER “N” ON IT BECAUSE IT ALWAYS POINTS NORTH.  IT DOES THAT BECAUSE IT IS ATTRACTED TO THE EARTH’S NORTH POLE. 

O:  EXPLORERS USED COMPASSES TO HELP THEM DETERMINE WHICH DIRECTION THEY WERE HEADED IN.

D:  ALMOST ALL LAND ON EARTH HAS ALREADY BEEN MAPPED OUT.  WITH MORE RECENT INVENTIONS LIKE MAPS, GPS, AND CELL PHONES, IT’S HARD TO GET LOST UNLESS YOU END UP IN A REALLY REMOTE AREA.  THERE WAS A TIME, NOT TOO LONG AGO, WHEN A LOT OF THE EARTH WAS STILL UNEXPLORED AND COMPASSES WERE ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.

O:  THERE ARE TWO IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER IF YOU ARE USING A COMPASS TO FIND YOUR WAY AROUND.  THE FIRST THING IS THAT MAGNETIC NORTH IS NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE GEOGRAPHIC NORTH POLE.

D:  OKAY, SO YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD ABOUT THE NORTH POLE.  YOU KNOW, THAT SPOT AT THE TOP OF A GLOBE.  THE PLACE WHERE SANTA CLAUS LIVES.  WELL, THAT NORTH POLE IS CALLED OUR GEOGRAPHIC NORTH POLE, OR TRUE NORTH.  THAT NORTH POLE IS DIFFERENT FROM MAGNETIC NORTH, WHICH IS THE NORTH DIRECTION THAT YOUR COMPASS WILL POINT TO.

O:  THIS IS GETTING CONFUSING.  

D:  IT IS A BIT CONFUSING, BUT IT’S USUALLY NOT SUCH A BIG DEAL BECAUSE  MAGNETIC NORTH IS ONLY ABOUT 1,000 MILES FROM THE GEOGRAPHIC NORTH POLE.  THAT SOUNDS LIKE A BIG DISTANCE, AND IT IS, BUT IT IS STILL CLOSE ENOUGH THAT A COMPASS WILL STILL POINT US IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION UNLESS WE GET REALLY, REALLY CLOSE TO THE NORTH POLE, WHERE IT WILL BECOME LESS ACCURATE.  IF YOU THINK THAT FACT IS CONFUSING, JUST WAIT BECAUSE OLIVIA’S ABOUT TO DROP AN EVEN MORE CONFUSING FACT ON YOU.  

O:  MAGNETIC NORTH IS NOT A STATIONARY POINT, IT ACTUALLY MOVES OVER TIME.  

D:  IN THE LAST CENTURY, MAGNETIC NORTH HAS MOVED ABOUT 600 MILES IN THE DIRECTION OF SIBERIA.  AGAIN, AS LONG AS YOU AREN’T SUPER CLOSE TO THE NORTH POLE, A COMPASS WILL STILL POINT YOU NORTH, BUT IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT MAGNETIC NORTH MOVES SLOWLY OVER TIME.

BEFORE WE WRAP THIS EPISODE UP, LET’S TALK ABOUT 2 WAYS HUMANS HELPED FIGURE OUT DIRECTION BEFORE COMPASSES WERE INVENTED.  WE MENTIONED THAT THEY USED THE SUN AND STARS FOR HELP.  

O:  THE SUN CAN HELP YOU ORIENT YOURSELF IF YOU REMEMBER THAT THE SUN RISES IN THE EAST AND SETS IN THE WEST.

D:  AND THE SUN RISES AND SETS EVERY SINGLE DAY, SO IT IS A REALLY USEFUL TOOL FOR POINTING YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.  IF IT IS NIGHTTIME, YOU CAN ALSO FIND YOUR WAY IF YOU CAN LOCATE A VERY SPECIAL STAR.

O:  IT’S CALLED THE NORTH STAR, OR POLARIS.  IT HELPS POINT OUT WHICH DIRECTION IS NORTH.  

D:  BUT FINDING THE NORTH STAR COULD BE COMPLICATED, BECAUSE IT IS FAR FROM THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE SKY.  THAT DISTINCTION GOES TO A STAR CALLED SIRIUS.  

O:  THAT STAR IS SERIOUSLY BRIGHT.

D:  WOW, OLIVIA BREAKING OUT A DAD JOKE.  I’M PROUD OF YOU.  SO, LET’S SAY YOU WANTED TO LOOK FOR THE NORTH STAR.  HERE’S WHAT YOU DO.  FIRST, YOU NEED TO FIND THE BIG DIPPER.  IF YOU LOOK AT THE TWO STARS AT THE OUTER END OF THE BIG DIPPER BOWL FURTHEST FROM THE HANDLE, AND DRAW AN IMAGINARY LINE UP THROUGH THOSE STARS, IT WILL POINT IN THE DIRECTION OF POLARIS, THE NORTH STAR.  OKAY OLIVIA, LET’S ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  IF YOU ARE FACING DUE NORTH, WHICH DIRECTION IS DIRECTLY BEHIND YOU.

O:  IF I’M FACING NORTH, THAN SOUTH WILL BE DIRECTLY BEHIND ME.

D:  THAT’S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.  IT’S ALMOST TIME TO ANNOUNCE OUR THANKSGIVING CHARITY, BUT BEFORE WE DO, LET’S THANK OUR NEWEST PATREON SUPPORTER.  

O:  THANK YOU NIKKI M.

D:  A BIG THANKS TO NIKKI FOR SUPPORTING THE PODCAST.  FOR HER SUPPORT, NIKKI GETS LOTS OF AWESOME PERKS, INCLUDING ACCESS TO OUR MONTHLY CURRENT EVENTS EPISODES.

O:  WE ALSO WANT TO THANK USERNAME RANDIJ42 FOR THE FABULOUS REVIEW.

D:  THE REVIEW SAYS “LOVE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  MY SIX AND FOUR YEAR OLD ARE OBSESSED WITH CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  THEY WANT TO LISTEN TO AN EPISODE EVERY DAY AND OFTEN DISCUSS WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED OVER DINNER OR WITH FRIENDS.  THE INFORMATION IS PRESENTED SO CLEARLY AND IN A VERY INTERESTING WAY.  MY SIX YEAR OLD LEFT A VOICEMAIL WITH A TOPIC HE WAS EXCITED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT AND WE HEARD BACK THE NEXT DAY FROM THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST TEAM!  WE THEN SENT A TEXT WITH A TOPIC REQUEST FROM MY YOUNGER SON AND HEARD BACK RIGHT AWAY AS WELL.  THEY WERE BOTH SO EXCITED TO GET A RESPONSE.  WE LOVE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.”

O:  THAT’S SUCH A FANTASTIC REVIEW.  WE WANT ALL OUR LISTENERS TO KNOW THAT WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR THE SUPPORT.

D:  THE APPROACH WE TAKE IS THAT THE PODCAST IS NOT ABOUT ME AND OLIVIA, IT’S ABOUT YOU… THE LISTENERS.  THAT’S WHY YOU WILL ALWAYS HEAR BACK FROM US IF YOU REACH OUT.  IT’S VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO CONTINUE LETTING YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATE THE LOVE AND SUPPORT.  SAY HI AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU’RE CURIOUS ABOUT BY SENDING AN E-MAIL TO CURIOUSKIDPODCAST@GMAIL.COM OR LEAVING A VOICEMAIL AT 856-425-2324.  

IT’S TIME TO ANNOUNCE OUR 2021 THANKSGIVING CHARITY.  AS WE’VE DONE EVERY YEAR SINCE WE STARTED THIS PODCAST, WE WANT TO HELP RAISE MONEY FOR A WONDERFUL CAUSE.  THIS YEAR, WE ARE RAISING MONEY FOR REACH OUT AND READ.

O:  REACH OUT AND READ IS A CHARITY THAT ENCOURAGES THE LOVE OF READING IN CHILDREN DURING THEIR DOCTOR VISITS.  I LOVE READING AND THIS CHARITY IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.  

D:  PART OF THE HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILD IS INSTILLING THE LOVE OF READING.  THAT’S WHY THE AMAZING FOLKS AT REACH OUT AND READ WORK WITH 33,000 PEDIATRIC CLINICIANS TO ENCOURAGE KIDS TO LOVE READING.  THEY SERVE OVER FOUR AND A HALF MILLION CHILDREN YEARLY BY PROVIDING AGE APPROPRIATE BOOKS TO CHILDREN AT THEIR WELL VISITS, AND TAKING THE TIME TO READ WITH THEM AND FOCUS ON HOW IMPORTANT READING IS TO A GROWING CHILD.  HALF OF THE CHILDREN SERVED BY REACH OUT AND READ ARE FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES AND MAY NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A VARIETY OF BOOKS, OR EVEN ANY BOOKS AT ALL.  

O:  PLEASE HELP US GIVE THANKS TO THE AWESOME FOLKS AT REACH OUT AND READ.

D:  THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO HELP US HELP THEM.  YOU CAN FIND A LINK TO THEIR WEBSITE IN THE SHOW NOTES AND DONATE TO THEM DIRECTLY.  YOU CAN ALSO DONATE ON THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST FACEBOOK PAGE.  THIS CHARITY IS SO DEAR TO US THAT WE WILL ALSO DONATE $5 FOR EVERY SINGLE 5 STAR REVIEW WE GET FROM TODAY THROUGH THANKSGIVING.  LEAVING A REVIEW FOR US WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO US, AND WE WILL SHOW OUR THANKS BY GIVING TO A GREAT CAUSE.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.  

O: 163 - COMPASSES.

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB FERGUS FOR THE TOPIC SUGGESTION.  IT REALLY HELPED STEER US IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.  NEXT WEEK, WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT FINGERPRINTS FOR LISTENERS IN SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.