Theory question 303
Latitude, Longitude and Time(a) What is a latitude? (b) State any three similarities between lines of longitudes and latitudes. (c) Outline any five ways in which lines of longitudes differ from lines of latitudes.
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(a) Latitude is the angular distance of a place north or south of the Equator, measured in degrees from the centre of the earth.
(b) Both are imaginary lines; both are measured in degrees; both are used together to locate places (grid reference); both are drawn on maps and globes; both have a starting line of 0° (Equator, Prime Meridian).
(c) Longitudes run north-south, latitudes east-west; longitudes meet at the poles, latitudes are parallel and never meet; all longitudes are equal in length (half great circles), latitudes get shorter towards the poles; longitudes go from 0° to 180° east and west, latitudes from 0° to 90° north and south; longitudes are used to calculate time, latitudes to tell climate zones and distance north-south; every longitude with its opposite forms a great circle, only the Equator among latitudes is a great circle; distance between longitudes decreases towards the poles, between latitudes it is constant (about 111 km).
Set differences out in pairs.