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Isotopes of hydrogen: 1H, 2H…what next?

Viking navigation

The Vikings’ centuries-long mastery of the north Atlantic is legendary. They sailed as far west as Canada, yet they had no magnetic compasses, clocks or sextants. How did they do it at a time when most other seafarers rarely ventured out of sight of land?

The terms in bold link to topics in the AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC and CCEA A-level specifications, as well as the IB, Pre-U and SQA exam specifications.

The Vikings navigated using a Sun compass. On cloudy days, they used a crystal that analysed the polarised light coming from the sky by a phenomenon known as double refraction.

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Isotopes of hydrogen: 1H, 2H…what next?

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