Question

give detailed information about how the merchant of olden times used a magnet while travelling​

Answer 1

The compass was invented more than 2,000 years ago. The first compasses were made of lodestone, a naturally magnetized stone of iron, in Han dynasty China between 300 and 200 BC. The compass was later used for navigation by the Song Dynasty. Later compasses were made of iron needles, magnetized by striking them with a lodestone. Dry compasses begin appearing around 1300 in Medieval Europe and the Medieval Islamic world.  This was replaced in the early 20th century by the liquid-filled magnetic compass.

compass is useful navigational tool that relies on magnetism to work. While there are different types of compasses, early explorer’s relied on magnetic compasses in navigation. The earth’s surface is covered by an invisible magnetic field. The north and south poles are aligned with the earth’s axis. Therefore, magnetic objects, like the needle of a compass, will align itself along the north-south axis.1 Magnetic compasses evolved from using lodestones. Lodestone is a type of magnetic mineral called magnetite. At sea there were two ways of using a lodestone: The first was to hang it from a string, and allow it to turn and point north. The second was to float it on a piece of wood in a bowl of water, where it would drift towards the north. Using the bowl of water method was better for sailors, because holding a string steady on a moving ship could prove difficult at times. Many historians have traced these early compass-like devices to ancient China before 1040.2 As trade between Asia and Europe increased, European travelers most likely brought back using this concept back with them.3

Around the late 1200s to early 1300s, sailors started using a dry compass. This new advancement used a pivoting needle attached to a compass card in a wooden box. The direction points of the compass card looked like a rose. So navigators often refer to this type of compass as a “compass rose.”4 Over the next hundred years, navigators and sailors, such as Christopher Columbus, relied on the compass to help them sail to new parts

Answer 2

Answer:

in the past, it was known that a piece of magnetite ( stones having magnetic property),when hung freely , point in the north-south direction. thus , these stones were used by merchant of olden times to find direction while travelling through unknown region . these stones are also known as loadstones ( leading stones )

Explanation: