What is Gyrocompass?
{{About|devices used on ships|gyroscope used in aircraft|Heading indicator}} [[File:Kreiselkompass Schnitt Anschütz.jpg|thumb|Cutaway of an Anschütz gyrocompass]] [[File:Algonquin gyro compass2.jpg|thumb|A gyrocompass repeater]] A '''gyrocompass''' is a type of [[compass]] that does not use [[magnetism]] to point [[north]]. Normal compasses do not work around magnets, or big pieces of [[Iron|ferrous metal]]. Gyrocompasses do. This makes them very useful. A gyrocompass is a non-magnetic [[compass]] based on a fast-spinning disc and the rotation of the [[Earth]] <ref>or another planetary body if used elsewhere in the universe</ref> It automatically finds geographical direction. Although one part of a gyrocompass is a [[gyroscope]], these are not the same devices. A crucial ingredient is needed to turn a gyroscope into a gyrocompass, so it would automatically position to true north. This is some mechanism that applies [[torque]] whenever the compass's axis is not pointing north. Successful methods have two significant advantages over magnetic compasses: * they find ''true'' north as determined by Earth's rotation, which is different from, and more useful than, [[magnetic north pole|''magnetic'' north]], and * they are unaffected by [[ferromagnetic]] materials, such as ship's [[steel]] [[hull (watercraft)|hull]], which change the [[magnetic field]] == Note == {{reflist}} {{-}} {{tech-stub}} [[Category:Navigation tools]]