how to know which is noth south west and east?

Answer 1

use a compass, or try to find out where the sun is and relative to time, you can find the directions almost to an acceptable limit.

Answer 2

The Sun rises in the east and sets in the north, as most others have said. So in the morning when you face the sun on your left is the north... Remember.. Never Eat Sour Watermelon. N E S W. But what if it is night and there is no sun. Well let us hope that there is no cloud cover and just look for the big dipper and as your look at the far right edge of the cup the two starts point to the hanfle of the little dipper which holds the North star. No matter where you are that is north in the middle of the night.

Look for moss; it usually grows on the north (i.e., least sunny) side of trees and rocks—or at least, grows most plentifully there.
Look for spider webs, which tend to appear on the south sides of trees.
Put a stick in the ground vertically, and note where the end of its shadow is. Wait a little while, and mark where the end is now. The line going between those two points should run approximately east–west; you can then tell by the direction of the sun’s movement which way is north.
Watch the sun, which rises (more or less) in the east and sets (more or less) in the west. But since the exact position of the sun varies by season and latitude, this is rather inaccurate.
In the northern hemisphere, if it’s night and the sky is clear, you can usually pick out the north star (Polaris) as the brightest one in the handle of the Little Dipper. If you’re facing that star, you’re pointing north.
In the southern hemisphere, find the Southern Cross. Note the direction of the long axis of the cross. Follow that imaginary line for a distance equal to five times the length of the cross and fact the point in space where it would end. You’re now facing directly south; spin around 180° to find north.
Hold an analog watch horizontally. In the northern hemisphere, point the hour hand toward the sun; in the southern hemisphere, point the 12 toward the sun. Either way, the north-south line runs halfway between the hour hand and the 12 (or 1, if Daylight Saving Time is in effect). To figure out which is which, note the sun’s direction of movement, or assume that the sun is in the southern half of the sky.
Note the direction in which the clouds move, which is generally west-to-east. (This can provide only a very rough approximation at best, and doesn’t work everywhere.)
If you’re in a part of the world where Traveler’s Palms grow, find one. Chances are the axis of the branches runs east-west; as usual, determine north from the direction of the sun or assume it’s in the southern part of the sky.
If you’re near a body of water where birds, fish, or amphibians are breeding, keep in mind that they often prefer to breed on the west side.
Use a compass. (You did bring a compass, right?)
Make a compass by carefully floating a magnetized needle on the surface of water that’s sitting in a very still container. (You did bring a needle, right?)
Use a GPS receiver. It’ll probably tell you the direction you’re facing without any effort, but even if it lacks an electronic compass (or the compass isn’t working), you can work out which way is north by taking two or more readings some distance apart and doing some very simple geometry. (You do remember your geometry, right?)

Moon Method
Observe the moon. If it is not a full moon and rises before the sun sets, the illuminated side is west. If the moon rises after midnight (standard time) the illuminated side is east. This is true everywhere on Earth.
Approximate north and south based on the rough east-west line of the moon. No matter where you are, if you are standing with the west side to your left, true north will be straight ahead.

Answer 3

Depends what you mean.

Do you need to know a definition?

The North pole of Earth is the pole around which the Earth appears to turn counter-clockwise (i.e, to the left) when viewed from above.

For other planets, the new definition is the pole that is on the same side of the ecliptic as Earth's north pole. Used to be based on the direction of rotation, so Venus was said to rotate upside down (inclination near 180 degrees); now we say Venus rotates the other way (retrograde spin).

On Earth, the direction, along the surface, towards the North pole is called North. Facing North, 90˚ to the right is East, 90˚ to the left is West and South is opposite North.

At (or very near) the North pole, navigators have established artificial directions (also called North, East, South and West), based on longitudes: otherwise, all directions are south when you are at the north pole.

Do you mean: how do you establish North for your location?

By observing the sky over long periods (a few hours), you may notice that some stars appear to turn around a point in the sky: that is a celestial pole. If the apparent movement is counter-clockwise, then it is the North celestial pole, which happens to be above the Earth's North pole. That gives you north. The rest follows.

In the day, the sun rises, climbs until it attains a maximum height in the sky, then starts to go down until it eventually sets. The direction where the sun lies when it reaches maximum altitude is south. Because the heights are symmetrical over the day, this makes it much easier to find the exact South direction than by using stars at night. Plus you get to work in daylight when you can actually see what you are doing.
However, it may take a few days of observations (the more accuracy you need, the more time it may take). This is how ancient astronomers used to do it before telescopes and sextants.

Do you need faster means?
(for example, you are lost and need to know which way is East)

If you have a watch (dial, not digital) and point the hour hand to the sun, then south is halfway between the hour hand and 12.

if you are on daylight saving time, then south is halfway between the hour hand and 1.

Because the sun is due south at (approx.) 12 noon -- or 1 p.m. if in daylight saving time -- and the hour hand moves twice as fast as the apparent motion of the sun.

Hour hand = 2 turns per day
Sun = one turn per day.

---

You could use a magnetic compass. However it points to the magnetic pole, not the geographical pole. There could be large differences. Plus there are local anomalies and we have more and more ferromagnetic metal all over the place nowadays.

Why stop at a compass, Use a GPS receiver. Once it has found your position, move a few steps in one direction. Most modern receivers will need less than 10 seconds of movement (even at walking speed) to tell the direction in which you are moving.

If in the northern hemisphere, at night, then the pole star will give you the north direction (as long as you can identify the pole star).

In the Southern hemisphere, the Southern Cross points to the celestial south pole. However, there is a "false cross" to the left of the real one; be careful.

In late March and in late September, the Sun rises very close to East and sets very close to West, from almost any position on Earth.

Orion's belt rises due East and sets due West. However, when the sun is in Taurus or in Gemini, you can't see Orion as it is too close to the Sun.

Answer 4

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In the morning, stand with the sun to your right. That's the east. Your left would be west. Your front, North. And your back, south.

Answer 5

Facing the sun in the morning is east. That puts your left hand to the north, right hand to the south, back to the west. If afternoon, the opposite is true

Answer 6

sun rise in the east and sets in the west

if the east is on your right/west is left your looking north
if the east is on your left/west is right your looking south

Answer 7

sun rises in the east .stand facing the sun rise ,the opposite side will be west ,,open your arms , the left arm will face north and the right arm will face south

Answer 8

Stand face to sun which you know that is east, back side direction is west, right hand side direction is south & left hand side direction is north. you can didentify this way or by magnet we can know the directions.

Answer 9

sun rising in east and set at west. when saw the rising sor left north and right south

Answer 10

sun raising side is EAST setting side is west. sun raising time you are watching the sun your left side is north side, your right side is south.