How To Set Up A Sundial In The Southern Hemisphere

Sunshine in your pocket!
Making a sundial for the Northern hemisphere.

To make a sundial for the Southern Hemisphere click here.

A printable version of this lesson.

In the text below you will observe the following links.

The Lord's day'south Path in the Sky
- The winter Sunday
- The equinox
- The summer Sun
The N Celestial Pole
Making a Shadow Plot to Find Due north
What is Your Breadth?
Constructing a sundial
- Avant-garde
- Intermediate
- Novice

***These pages are viewed best with 14pt font size***

Later on completing the activities on the side by side few pages you will exist able to brand a necklace or keychain horizontal sundial like those seen in the image to a higher place. These sundials are fun, portable, and cheap. A complete necklace tin cost every bit little as 30 cents! They make a terrific classroom activeness for students of all ages, and also brand wonderful gifts. Let's become started.

To sympathise how a horizontal sundial tells time, we must first empathize the path the Dominicus takes through the sky.

Once you empathise the motion of the Sun across the sky for the unlike seasons we demand to recognize what feature of that motion is well-nigh useful for building a sundial.

To use your sundial you will demand to exist able to discover the direction of due north. A shadowplot is a fun and easy way to notice geographic north.

In add-on to finding the direction of north you will need to know the latitude of the boondocks or city where you intend to use your sundial in order to build it accurately. If yous do not know the latitude of a particular role of the earth you tin figure it out past looking on a world or a map that has the latitude lines marked. Latitude is measured in degrees from the equator. The equator is nothing degrees latitude, the north and south poles are ninety degrees latitude. Click here to view a latitude grid of the world.

Now that we empathise a little about how the Dominicus moves through the sky, nosotros know how to find due n and we know the breadth for which we want to build a sundial, we are set to go on.

The complete construction of a sundial involves the use of a protractor and the understanding of some trigonometric functions like sine and tangent.

The different levels below allow you to construct a sundial no matter what experience you have with these mathematical tools. Select the level appropriate for your understanding from the choices below and we'll get to work!

Advanced
If yous are comfortable using a protractor and are familiar with the trig functions sine and tangent this is the level for y'all!

INTERMEDIATE
If you are comfortable using a protractor to measure angles, but are not familiar with the trig functions sine and tangent select this level.

NOVICE
If yous are not comfy using a protractor and are not familiar with the trig functions sine and tangent start at this level.

***Accurateness***
To compare the time on the sundial you construct to the time on a clock, at that place are several adjustments which should be made. The Northward American Sundial Society has a dainty folio which discusses these adjustments. Visit: Sundial Time vs. Clock Time .

****REMEMBER****
During daylight savings fourth dimension you will need to add one hour to the fourth dimension on your sundial in social club to agree with local "clock" time.

Hither is a cute sundial that was constructed using the instructions on these pages.

YPOP Homepage

Learning Activities

The Lord's day's Path

Lesson designed by Michelle B. Larson

For questions about this lesson, please electronic mail Michelle B. Larson