When was the compass invented?

A compass is a simple instrument used to determine directions. Formerly known as Sinan. It is commonly used in navigation, geodesy, travel and military applications.

As early as the Warring States Period, the Chinese ancestors had used natural magnets to make Sinan spoons to indicate the direction. During the Three Kingdoms Wei period, Ma Jun used magnets and differential gears to create a mechanical device that could indicate the direction - the guide car. Shen Kuo, a scientist of the Song Dynasty, recorded the method of making a magnetic needle for pointing in his "Mengxi Bi Tan".

Later, it was developed into a compass that integrated a magnetic needle and an azimuth disk. At the latest, in the late Northern Song Dynasty, the compass had been used for navigation; During the Southern Song Dynasty, needle disc navigation was used. The invention of the compass played a great role in the development of maritime transportation and economic and cultural exchanges.

<>Compass invention time

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chinese working people gradually learned about magnets in mining and smelting.

In the Warring States period, some people used magnets to make utensils to determine the direction, and at that time it was called "Sishang", which was a magnet like a water spoon placed on a square plate without edge, and the handle of the water spoon pointed south. to the Northern Song Dynasty.

In the later period (11th century AD), the Chinese created artificial magnets, and later created the "guide fish" handle magnets.

The "fish" made of sheets is placed on the surface of the water to indicate the direction. Later, after repeated research and improvement, the magnetic steel sheet was changed into a small magnetic steel needle, and its tip became a magnetic north pole, and the end became a magnetic south pole, which became a compass.

Shen Kuo, an outstanding scientist of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Many scientific explanations and analyses have been made on the production and use of the compass. It was not until the beginning of the 14th century that the compass was introduced to Europe from China.

How it works

The red end of the compass now points to the north of the earth. This is because, in accordance with international standards, the red end of the magnetic needle is the north pole of the magnetic needle, which is represented by n (the white end of the magnetic needle is the south pole of the magnetic needle, which is represented by s). In the compass, the red end n points to the north, because the geographic north pole of the earth is actually the earth's magnetic field.

So according to the principle of opposites attracting, the magnetic needle North Pole will be attracted to the south pole of the magnetic field, which is the direction of the North Pole of geography.

The earth we live in is divided into the south pole and the north pole, and the earth is a large magnet at the same time, with two magnetic poles, one called geomagnetism.

The North Pole, also known as the N-pole, and the other is called the geomagnetic South Pole, also known as the S pole, the geomagnetic north pole is near the south pole of the earth, and the geomagnetic south pole is near the north pole of the earth.

The needle of a compass is equivalent to a magnet, and there are also north poles and north poles. The tip of the pointer is the South Pole, and the other end of the pointer is the North Pole. The south pole of the earth is the north pole of geomagnetism, and because of the principle that "the same sex repels each other, and the opposite sex attracts", the compass will always point to the south.

Nowadays, technology is developed, and the mobile phones we usually use also have the function of a compass.

All these are inseparable from the principle that "the same sex repels each other, and the opposite sex attracts." Even the most advanced technology has a lot to do with what we usually learn. Only by doing every little thing well, can we make a greater contribution.

The compass was invented according to the principle of magnetism in physics, and its appearance and people's discovery of magnetism have invented the compass in China very early, so when was the compass invented?

1. The compass appeared as early as the slag belt of Cishan in the Warring States Period.

2. The compass is the result of the long-term practice of the ancient Chinese working people to understand the magnetism of magnets. As one of the four great inventions of ancient China, its invention has played an immeasurable role in the development of science and technology and civilization.

3. In China's orientation culture, it has gone through three stages, from astronomical method positioning to magnetic method to make Sinan, and finally from Sinan to compass, followed by the continuous improvement of orientation determination technology.

To sum up, the Liang family knows that the compass appeared in the Warring States period, I hope the above content is useful to you!

According to the records of the "Ancient Mine Record", it first appeared in the Cishan area during the Warring States Period. The predecessor of the compass was Sinan, one of the four great inventions of ancient China.

According to March 1982, "Guangming**" reported: Cishan (in present-day Wu'an, Handan City, Hebei Province) is the birthplace of the compass, one of China's four major inventions. According to the "Ancient Mine Record", it is recorded:

The Geographical Chronicles of the History of the Ming Dynasty said: "There is a magnetic mountain in the southwest of Wu'an County, Cizhou, which produces magnetite stone. 2] The Reign of the Ming Dynasty says:

There is a magnetic mountain in the southwest of Wu'an County, Cizhou, which produces magnetite. 2] It is also recorded in the "Ancient Mine Record": "The Reign of Ming Yi" says:

Ci Mountain, 30 miles southwest of the county, native ore, the name of the state takes this. Magnetic Mountain, the home of the compass.

The classics record things about the compass and the authors of the classics, all of which are in the Yanzhao cultural area centered on ancient Handan; The ancient Chinese compasses recorded in the available classics are all made of natural magnets; And according to the records of the pre-Qin classics, only Wu'an Cishan (now Wu'an, Handan City, Hebei Province) produced natural magnets. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was possible to make Sinan, but only in the Yanzhao cultural area centered on Handan, Wu'an was most likely the hometown of the compass.

The Chinese working people in the pre-Qin era have accumulated an understanding of magnetic phenomena, and when exploring iron ore, they often encounter magnetite, that is, magnets (the main component is ferric oxide - chemical formula Fe3O4, also known as iron oxide black, magnet, magnet, magnet, which is a magnetic black crystal, so it is also called magnetic iron oxide). These discoveries have long been recorded in several chapters of the "Pipe": "There is a magnet on the mountain, and there is gold and copper under it.

There is a similar record in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. The iron-absorbing properties of magnets were discovered very early, and the nine volumes of "Lü's Spring and Autumn" have mastery chapters: "Ci Zhao Iron, or Lead."

The ancients called "magnetism" "compassion". The ancients regarded the magnet's attraction of iron as the attraction of a loving mother to her children. And think:

The stone is the mother of iron, but there are two kinds of stones: benevolent and unkind, the loving stone can attract his children, and the unkind stone cannot attract him. "Before the Han Dynasty, the ancients wrote the magnet as "Cishi", which is an expression of loving stone. In the Western Han Dynasty, there was a monk named Luan Da, who used the characteristics of the magnet to make two things like chess pieces, and by adjusting the mutual position of the polarity of the two chess pieces, sometimes the two chess pieces attracted each other, and sometimes they repel each other.

Luan Da called it "fighting chess". He dedicated this novelty to Emperor Wu of Han and demonstrated it on the spot. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was amazed, and the dragon's heart was so happy that he actually named Luan Da as the "General of Wuli".

"Before the Han Dynasty, the ancients wrote the magnet as "Cishi", which is an expression of loving stone. In the Western Han Dynasty, there was a monk named Luan Da, who used the characteristics of the magnet to make two chess pieces, and by adjusting the mutual position of the polarity of the two chess pieces, the two chess pieces sometimes attracted and sometimes repulsed.

Luan Da called it "fighting chess". He dedicated this novelty to Emperor Wu of Han and demonstrated it on the spot. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was amazed, and the dragon's heart was so happy that he actually named Luan Da as the "General of Wuli".

According to historical records, the invention of the compass dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty (11th century) in China, when it was used on ships as a device to indicate direction. According to Li Co's archaeological findings, the early compass may have been made of magnets made of magnets, but the specific time is impossible to verify by the town and the inventor. In Europe, the compass sedan needle appeared later, around the 13th century, and its appearance greatly facilitated European navigation and exploration activities.

As for the specific inventor of the compass, it is impossible to determine precisely because of the incomplete historical record and various legends and traditions.

The compass was first called Sinan, which was an instrument used to identify directions in ancient China, and it was also the earliest guide tool used in China.

Sinan is the invention of the ancient Chinese working people in the long-term practice of the magnetic understanding of objects, is to use natural magnetite ore to cut into a spoon-shaped thing, put on a smooth plate, the plate is engraved with directions, the role of the magnet guide to identify the direction.

The compass is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, and its invention has played an immeasurable role in the development of human science and technology and civilization. In ancient China, the compass was first used for rituals, ceremonies, military affairs, divination and feng shui to determine directions, and in modern times, the compass is often used in navigation, geodesy, travel, and military affairs.