How do you tiangulate someones position? What does that mean?

Question

I have heard it used many times especially in movies and I am guessing it has something to do with figuring out mathematically where your position is using last known positions or something.I dunno...

Answer 1

TRIANGULATION

n 1: a trigonometric method of determining the position of a
fixed point from the angles to it from two fixed points
a known distance apart; useful in navigation
2: a method of surveying; the area is divided into triangles
and the length of one side and its angles with the other
two are measured, then the lengths of the other sides can
be calculated

Answer 2

Your on the right track. Triangulation is where you have three fixed points. Put an object (a person) just any ol' place and measure the distance of the object from all three fixed points and you have the location of the object. For instance, if the object was dead center of the three points then the three measurements would be equal. Draw a triangle and put a dot inside it. Measure the distance of the dot from the three corners of the triangle. Move the dot around and measure each time. Your triangulating.

Answer 3

This question actually has two answers.

The Boy Scout answer is "Triangulation is a way of using the compass and map to fix your position." See: http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/compass_triangulation.html

But it can also mean using three satellites to fix a latitude, longitude and altitude using a GPS device that can receive timing signals from the three satellites.

Answer 4

Take their bearings.