How to use the azimuth values of the sun on a particular day to determine true north using a school protractor

i have azimuth values of the sun for July 8 2007 how do i use these values to find due north .for example the table from the astronomical applications dept. The U.S. Naval Observatory Washington ,DC. Indicates that at 6.10am the azimuth will be 68 degees but at 9.30 am the azimuth will be 68.1 degrees as well.I am confused.I live in lat 11.2 north and longitude 60.67 degrees west. Can i use these values to find due north or not? If I can how can I do it with a protractor and a permanent marker.How to use the azimuth values of the sun on a particular day to determine true north using a school protractor
The USNO site is pretty self-explanatory, and you can use that data for your purpose - the azimuth is measured from true North to the East, in horizontal plane. So you just trace the shadow of a perfectly vertical thin object (string with stone at end, hanging freely), then measure the corresponding angle with the protractor, counterclockwise.





I assume your confusion comes from the fact that the azimuth at 6:10 is basically the same at 9:30. The same results comes from www.imcce.fr (the former Bureau des Longitudes). If you look at the full table, you'll notice that the azimuth of the Sun increases until about 8:00am, then goes back - the Sun stops moving South, and moves back North. At noon, the sun indicated the North, rather than the South. I was also puzzled, until I noticed the particulars - the Sun at this time of the year is basically on the Tropic of Cancer (23 degrees North), and while you are in the Northern hemisphere, you are South of the Tropic. For locations North of the Tropic, the Sun at noon points always the South (which is what you read in textbooks - most are written by people living at mid-Northern latitudes).How to use the azimuth values of the sun on a particular day to determine true north using a school protractor
Here's the honest-to-god easiest way to get your directions using the sun.





You don't need a book or a watch, just a stake, a couple rocks, and a little bit of time.





Put stake in ground. Place a stone at the end of the stake's shadow. Wait an hour. Place another stone at the end of the stake's shadow. If you have time, wait another hour and put down another rock.





The line between the stones runs east and west. The shadow is the shortest (ie line is closest to the stick) at local apparent noon (which probably isn't exactly noon unless you are in the middle of your time zone and aren't on daylight savings).
You can do it. Use a string and a weight suspended so that it nearly touches a flat and level surface. See the shadow of the string cast by the sun at the times when the solar azimuth is fairly constant (around 8:00 = 69.9掳 or around 16:10 =290.1掳)


Draw that line on the ground and then you can use a protractor to find 0掳 = true North