how do you translate compass heading into compass bearing?

Question

What I know is that the heading maxes out at 360°... but how do you know which is north and south by degrees? or east and west??? I have to write a program for a class that will translate this... any info would be of help thanks

Answer 1

The common convention is that 0° (or 360°) is North. Add 90° to 0° to get to East. Add 90° to East to get to South. Add 90° to South to get to West. Add 90° to get back to North. With a number like 227°, keep subtracting 90° till a number lower than 90° is obtained (227°-90=137°-90°=47°). This new number can be written in the Quadrant System as S47°W. I prefer to keep my numbers in the Azimuth System.