How to know direction using the sun shadow?

Question

if it's one hour before noon the shadow is not yet under the object and the sun is not perpendicular, if you have a piller then it's shadow points toward one direction , can you use this direction to know east ?

Answer 1

Yes, you can use your shadow to determine directions.

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. As an object bathed in sunlight casts its shadow, the shadow moves in exactly the opposite direction to the movement of the sun. Therefore, the shadow is moving eastward as the sun moves westward. So you can track the movement of a shadow on the ground and use this directional information to determineeast.

Instructions on how to do this by using a "shadow stick" are at:

http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/u...

Answer 2

Curiosity is correct.  Here's a quick answer:

On a level area of ground, push a straight stick into the ground, making sure it is as vertical as possible.  On the ground, place an object (such as a small stone) at the end of the stick's shadow.  A while later (say, an hour or so), the shadow will have moved.  Place another object where the end of the shadow now is.  Draw a straight line between the two objects.  This line will run east-west; and the first stone will lie due west of the second one (as the sun moves from east to west, the shadow moves from west to east).

It might be difficult to see where the end of the shadow is, so tying a second stick near the top of the first one may make it easier to mark the shadow where the sticks form a cross.  Also, on a dull overcast day. the shadow can be spotted if a sheet of paper is laid on the ground.

This is a much more accurate way of finding direction than the often quoted 'using your watch as a compass' method; which is fine, if you don't need to be too accurate.