Module No. 3515

Magnetic North and True North

There are actually two types of north: magnetic north and true north.

Magnetic north: North indicated by the needle of a compass

True north: Direction to the North Pole

As shown in the illustration below, magnetic north and true north are not the same.

MagneticNorth_TrueNorth_BK

Note

The north indicated on commercially available maps is normally true north.

Back

Next