The oldest compass

Maybe you guessed it was a food scoop we used to call a spoon !!! in fact not. It is an important invention of the Chinese people.

The oldest compass is an important invention of the Chinese people
(Photo: smith.edu)

It was the oldest compass . Record of this most ancient compass held by Chinese people. The compass shaped like a spoon laden inside is not full of small magnets, which the Chinese call the male needle that appeared from the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC).

The spoon is placed on a thin copper plate called a polar or extruded plate, which is divided into 8 sections and so one can determine 24 different directions based on the constellations divided on the equator. Usually the big bear is chosen as the center of this plate.

Chinese alchemists have realized that magnet stones have orientation properties when released. They do not fully understand why it always points out that way.

Around the Tang Dynasty in the 7th - 8th century Chinese people knew how to contaminate an iron object by grinding it with a magnetic object and dipping it into water. They also observed that during the cooling process metal rods should be placed in a certain direction.