There are eight cardinal directions that can be expanded to include intermediate directions like southeast and northwest. Occasionally sixteen directions are used, or bearings measured in degrees from 0 to 360 can specify an exact direction. Magnetic compasses and protractors are tools used to determine directions and calculate bearings, although GPS is more commonly used today.

1. Directions
and
Bearings
Created by tbonnar.

2. Directions and Bearings
• There are eight
major directions that
we commonly use.
The first four are
called the cardinal
directions.

3. Directions and Bearings
• Sometimes, another
four directions are
added. So there are
directions like
Southeast (SE)
and Northwest (NW)

4. Directions and Bearings
• Occasionally, sixteen
directions are used.
Example WSW =
Westsouthwest

5. Directions and Bearings
• With more than
sixteen directions,
things get quite
confusing,
so we use numbers
called bearings.

6. Directions and Bearings
• There are 360° of
bearings. If we use
decimals, there are
even more
(∞ in fact).
We commonly use
only 360 though.

7. Directions and Bearings
• All of these bearings and
directions appear
on magnetic compasses,
which are used to
figure out directions and
calculate exact bearings.
Today of course, many
people use GPS systems
instead of “old-fashioned”
compasses.

8. Directions and Bearings
• A simple protractor
can be used
to calculate bearings
on a diagram or
map.