What is magnetic variation?

• A. Angle between magnetic north and compass north
• B. The angle between magnetic north and geographic south
• C. The angle between true north and geographic south
• D. The angle between true north and magnetic north

Answer: (D)

Magnetic variation is the angular difference between true north (geographic north) and magnetic north at a specific location. It tells you how far the magnetic north is from true north and is expressed as east or west. This helps pilots convert between true headings and magnetic headings on charts and in flight. If magnetic north lies to the east of true north, the variation is east; if it lies to the west, the variation is west. The other descriptions don’t describe this relationship: variation isn’t the angle between magnetic north and compass north, nor is it about geographic south, and it isn’t the angle between true north and geographic south (which is 180 degrees).