How does GPS on my phone pinpoint my exact location?

GPS on your phone is like having special helpers in the sky telling you where you are.

Imagine you're playing hide and seek, and each time someone shouts out a clue about how far away they are from you, that’s like how GPS works. Your phone talks to satellites up high in space, which act like those helpers. Each satellite tells your phone how far it is from them. Your phone uses these clues to figure out where you are on Earth.

Your phone gets messages from at least four satellites, each telling it how far away they are. Using that information, your phone does some math, like when you try to find a hidden toy by checking distances from different spots in your room, and finds out where you are.

It's kind of like when you use clues to solve a puzzle. The more clues (or satellites) your phone has, the better it can guess where you are, just like how knowing two distances helps you find something faster than one!