3.3.1 Bearings
A bearing is usually expressed as an angle in degrees, measured clockwise from North.
For example, if you are standing at point \( A \) and want to describe the direction to point \( B \), you might say
“the bearing of point \( A \) from point \( B \) is \( 45° \).”
Bearings are often used in combination with distances to describe the location of a point relative to another point.
For example, you might say
“point \( B \) is located \( 500 m \) from point \( A \) on a bearing of \( 45° \).”
Bearings are also used in compass navigation, where a compass is used to determine the direction of the North. In this case, a bearing is measured relative to magnetic North, which may differ slightly from true North depending on your location and the declination angle.
Uses of bearings:
Bearings can be used on maps to indicate the direction of a line or the angle between two lines. Bearings are typically given in degrees or mils (a unit of angle measurement used by the military).
Compass directions are often used to describe the orientation or direction of an object or location.
Here are some common compass directions and their corresponding bearings:
North: \( 0 \) degrees or \( 360 \) degrees
East: \( 90 \) degrees
South: \( 180 \) degrees
West: \( 270 \) degrees
Northeast: \( 45 \) degrees
Southeast: \( 135 \) degrees
Southwest: \( 225 \) degrees
Northwest: \( 315 \) degrees
One common use of bearings on maps is to indicate the direction of a line, such as a road, trail, or river. The bearing is measured from true north (or magnetic north, depending on the map’s orientation) and indicates the angle between the line and north.
Bearings can also be used to describe the angle between two lines, such as the angle between two roads or the direction of a flight path.