Compasses point to Magnetic North, not True North (0:38) the direction to the north pole. The difference between true North and magnetic North shown by a compass is called magnetic variation. The variation is not small, varies a lot across the Earth, and slowly changes with time.
Compasses point to Magnetic North, not True North (0:38) the direction to the north pole. The difference between true North and magnetic North shown by a compass is called magnetic variation. The variation is not small, varies a lot across the Earth, and slowly changes with time.