What is the Range/Bearing tool used to compute?

• A. Position from direction and distance
• B. Velocity from time
• C. Distance to sea state
• D. Temperature from pressure

Answer: (A)

The Range/Bearing tool is used to determine your position from a measured direction and distance to a known reference point. When you know where the reference point is, the bearing tells you which line to follow from that point toward you, and the range tells you how far you are from it. Plotting the bearing line and the distance (a circle around the reference point with the measured radius) and finding their intersection gives your exact location. This is how you fix your position using direction and distance.

The other options describe unrelated calculations: velocity from time, a distance related to sea state, or temperature from pressure. They don’t involve using a direction and a distance to determine your position.