Additional Points
The directional names are also routinely and very conveniently associated with the degrees of rotation in the unit circle, a necessary step for navigational calculations (derived from trigonometry) and/or for use with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) Receivers. The four cardinal directions correspond to the following degrees of a compass:
- North (N): 0° = 360°
- East (E): 90°
- South (S): 180°
- West (W): 270°
An ordinal, or intercardinal, or intermediate, direction is one of the four intermediate compass directions located halfway between the cardinal directions.
- Northeast (NE), 45°, halfway between north and east, is the opposite of southwest.
- Southeast (SE), 135°, halfway between south and east, is the opposite of northwest.
- Southwest (SW), 225°, halfway between south and west, is the opposite of northeast.
- Northwest (NW), 315°, halfway between north and west, is the opposite of southeast.
These 8 words have been further compounded, resulting in a total of 16 named (and numbered) points evenly spaced around the compass.
Read more about this topic: Cardinal Direction
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