Creating Your Own Homemade Compass

If you don't have a compass, you can create your own in much the same way people did hundreds of years ago. To create your own compass, you will need the following materials:

• A needle or some other wire-like piece of steel (a straightened paper clip, for example)
• Something small that floats such as a piece of cork, the bottom of a Styrofoam coffee cup, a piece of plastic or the cap from a milk jug
• A dish, preferably a pie plate, 9 to 12 inches (23 - 30 cm) in diameter, with about an inch (2.5 cm) of water in it

 The first step is to turn the needle into a magnet. The easiest way to do this is with another magnet -- stroke the magnet along the needle 10 or 20 times as shown below.
If you are having trouble finding a magnet around the house, two possible sources include a can opener and an electromagnet that you make yourself .
Place your float in the middle of your dish of water as shown below.
The "float on water" technique is an easy way to create a nearly frictionless bearing. Center your magnetic needle on the float. It very slowly will point toward north. You have created a compass!