Why Does a Compass Always Point North?

Long ago, sailors on the ocean had no roads, no signs, and no phone to check for directions. So how did they know which way was north when all they could see was water? They used a little magnetic needle that always swung around to point the same way — a compass!

- What a compass needle is made of and why it moves - Why the needle always points north - How sailors used compasses to cross the ocean without getting lost - How to read the four main directions: North, South, East, West

A compass needle is a tiny magnet balanced so it can spin freely. Our whole planet Earth is actually a giant magnet too, with a north magnetic pole and a south magnetic pole, just like the magnets you play with. Because 'opposites attract' and 'like poles push away,' the needle's north end always turns to line up with Earth's magnetic pull, pointing toward the north.

Before compasses were common, sailors also used the stars to find their way — this is called celestial navigation. At night in the Northern Hemisphere, one bright star barely moves: the North Star (Polaris). Sailors could find it by tracing a line from the two stars at the edge of the Big Dipper. Compasses became popular because they worked even on cloudy nights and during the day, when no stars were visible at all.

A compass face is marked with four main directions: North (N), South (S), East (E), and West (W). If you are facing North, South is directly behind you, East is to your right, and West is to your left. Sailors combined compass directions with speed and time to figure out exactly where their ship was on the ocean, even far from any land.