Bearings

Bearings

North-East-South-West

Measure from North

Always measure from North

Measure your bearing clockwise

Not anticlockwise please!!!

Bearings are always given with 3 figures

Not one or two. Like the 3 musketeers - they stick together.

Help! I've got a bearings question. What do I do?

Follow this handy guide to find your bearings.

Example

A snail travels 5metres on a bearing of 067°. Find how far east he is from his starting point.

Step one

Draw a line facing north

Draw an arrow in the direction of interest

If you are asked for an accurate drawing, you will need your protractor and compass - otherwise a rough sketch is fine.

Label your diagram with the information you have been given.

angle and distance please.

Draw a line from the point of your arrow to your north line

Not so bad, is it?

Figure out which Trig function will help you...

???

Our angle is opposite our length of interest so we need...

Sin

Apply your trig   $\sin\ =\ \frac{o}{h}$  

•  $\sin\ 67\ =\ \frac{o}{5}$   
  

•  $o\ =\ 5\times\sin67$  

•  $o\ =\ 4.6\ m\ \left(to\ 1dp\right)$  

So our snail is 4.6 metres east of his start position.