How can a "weather vane" by definition " measure anything. direction isnt a measurement?

Question

Direction is a reference. As in, even in coordinates, ; "from point "A" to point "B" then turn north for "X" distance to point "whatever" .. north does no measuring, it references WHICH WAY to turn.. I know on compass theres degrees, You measure by the degrees according to what your last reference was.. rite?

Answer 1

The direction is part of the measurement of motion.  Both speed and direction are needed to give value to a vector.  These vectors are the key values needed to determine how things are moving in a 2-D or 3-D world.  

Here is an example:

If somebody asked me how strong the winds are blowing.

I can tell him that it is blowing at 15 meters per second.

But if he asked me how strong is it moving southward, the value of 15 meters per second is of no use to this answer without a direction.  I would then need to add in the direction to the answer in order for us to determine the value of the vector moving southward for the final answer.  So in this case, the direction is part of the measurement.

Wind direction is part of a measurable wind vector value.   I can use vector analysis to determine the strength of the wind vector for a given direction.  Please see the following links for more details.

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/ph...

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/ph...

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/ph...

So, yes...direction is part of a real measurement value.  Hope this all makes sense to you.