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Let me preface by saying, I'm asking this here because I know y'all are a bunch of mature adults that won't make fun of me for not knowing this.
How do I learn the difference between North, East, South and West?
When someone tells me its South, I don't know what that means.
My boyfriend has tried telling me the sun sets in the East, or whatever. But that doesn't help me...
Are you asking how to memorize the compass rose?
No, I am asking how I KNOW which direction is which. I know North is up, South is down and so forth.
The compass rose shows North as being "up", South on the "bottom", East on the "right", and West on the "left." To know your direction at any moment, these days there are apps on cell phones that show your exact coordinates (latitude& longitude). These work just like a GPS.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma
I want to learn to know which way is north, south, east and west without a compass or without a gps.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma
If you are in the USA North would be toward Canada, South would be toward Mexico, East would be toward the Atlantic Ocean, and West would be toward the Pacific Ocean.
I don't think I am describing what I am asking right.
When someone gives me directions and say go north on main street... blah blah blah. How do I know which way north is.
I know that Canada is north of me, but how do I know which way north is... If that makes sense.
Telling me the Sun sets somewhere doesn't help because what if I'm given directions inside and its raining? That doesn't help me...
Ok, once you know that the sun rises in the east, then in your mind, you can fill in the "right", and where the sun sets is your "left". So, north and south would be your up and down, so to speak.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma
I'm not trying to be rude... But that doesn't really help me to LEARN which way is which.
I've tried. Someone else can try now.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma
I'll just try and Google it again.
Go to a place you know well, like where you live, and have your boyfriend or someone tell you which direction is which. For instance, I lived just south of Lake Ontario, so facing that was north. Going way from it was south. The sun set in the west (so I could see it setting from the living room) and rose in the east (so I could see it rising when I looked out of the kitchen window). Every time I went to a new place, I would orient myself as to where north was, so then I could figure out the other three directions. My younger son has to carry a pocket compass around with him so he doesn't get lost when he is in unfamiliar territory.
Here is a link that should help you.
Cardinal direction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I don't understand why this is so easy for everyone and I have such a hard time understanding it...
It ISN'T easy for everyone! I had to orient myself everywhere I went until it finally got to be sort of okay (as long as I was in familiar places). If I am in a strange place, I still have trouble figuring out where north is.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma
In the clear night sky its very easy with help of stars. In day if you sure about at least one direction rest of it is solved.
Having a "compass in yotr head" is a very practical skill to learn, but it requires a basic familiarity with the area you are in. Typically if you're following someone's directions to a given destination you need to have general idea of which way you need to go - north, south, east, or west. - and if you don't, then I suggest looking at a map to get a feel for how the trip will go. I'll give an example to illustrate what I mean. Suppose you are in NY City and driving from 32nd street in Manhattan to 56th St (I'm picking Manhattan because the streets are laid out in a very logical way, with the street numbers getting higher as you drive north, and a lot of people may be familiar with the street I'll be talk ing about). So right off you know you are going to be heading north. Keep that in mind, because if your directions say "turn left on Central Park South" you should be able to visualize that when you turn left you would then be heading west on that road - can you visualize that? Then if the directions say "turn south on 8th Avenue" you can visualize that if you are heading west on Central Park South you must turn left to head south. In general if you just keep thinking about the general direction you are heading then figuring whether north or south is left or right becomes more natural. It does take practice though - it comes easier to some than others, and in your case I suggest consciously working at tracking directions in your head. Do you know which direction the front door of your house faces? If you work at an office, which direction does your desk face? Think about major roads in your area and memorize which direction they run. Knowing significant landmarks like these helps a lot.
Of course if you have no clue as to which way you're facing to start with it can be difficult to get oriented. So look for clues such as street signs, exit signs on the highway, etc to get yourself oriented.
Ok, lets say you are placed blindfolded in the middle of a large field on a cloudy day and the blindfold is taken off. You can't see the sun, you have no frame of reference. So how do you tell direction? The answer is, without a compass or GPS, you can't. I can't either so you are not alone.
The ONLY way a person can tell is by using a frame of reference. A frame of reference could be a compass or it could be the sun, or it could be star formations or it could be a landmark, but you need some frame of reference.
Lets start with the most obvious, the sun. Unless it is 12 noon and the sun is directly overhead, you determine by time of day (another frame of reference) whether sun is rising or setting. If it is rising, then you put the sun on your right side and you are facing north. If it is setting and you put the sun on your left, you are again facing north.
When it comes to directions, again frame of reference is important. For example, in Manhattan the numbered streets run east/west. And the avenues run north/south. So if you are headed east on a street to turn north you need to make a left turn, if you are headed west you need to make a right turn. So you ask, how do you know whether you are headed east or west? Well the avenue numbers rise going east to west. So if hit 5th Avenue, then 6th you are headed west. Street numbers rise south to north, so if you pass 20th St then 21st St you are headed north.
Again, its all frame of reference. But without a frame of reference, its impossible to tell. That's why we have compasses and GPS devices.
I have to quibble with something that several people have said. I don't mean to hijack this thread, but the notion that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west is a very broad statement that literally is not true, at least not for most days of the year. At best you can say that the sun rises somewhere between northeast and southeast (depending on time of year) and sets somewhere between southwest and northwest. And the sun is never directly overhead, even at noon (unless you live in the tropics) - for those of us in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere at noon the sun is high in the sky to the south. In general for people in the northern hemisphere the direction of the sun is: 6AM due east, 12 noon due south, and 6 PM due west. You can interpolate for other times. Thus at 9 AM the sun is midway between east and south (i.e. southeast) because 9AM is midway between 6AM and noon. Of course "sun time" differs from local time by up to an hour either way (depending on your physical location in your tme zone and whether you're on standard or daylight savings time), so there's going to be some error, but in general it's a reliable guide.
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