Imho, there is no such thing as "real headings". Geometry, as its mother Mathematics is a wonderful symbolical language to provide us all means of mapping the physical world as we see it.
The use of semi-circular geometrical convention helps (among other things) in: 1) give the sense of "negative" when the object passes "downward" or "to the other side" of an 2-D axis (another convention); 2) the coming back rationally to zero instead of jumping from 359ยบ59'59" to it.
cheers, Paulo
On May 25, 2007, at 7:19 PM, mstram wrote:
While playing with the Etoys, I've noticed the "weird" heading numbers.
By that I mean when the object's heading passes 180 degrees, instead of continuing on to 190 ... 270 .. 360, we get the negative numbers.
Why was this convention adopted ?
I think if kids ... and some us "older" kids are going to be using headings it would be more educational and instructive to use "real" headings.
Maybe an option / preference could be setup on which heading numbering system to use.
The only minor problem I can see is whether it should be "0" or "360" to begin with.
Just for the fun of it, I'm digging in and seeing if I can construct my own subclass to use the "360" system. I have an idea for an ATC simulation I'd like to do and "real" headings .. or at least converted for input and output would be a must.
Mike
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