Latitude and Longitude Essay

When looking at a map, latitude lines run horizontally. Latitude lines are also known as parallels since they are parallel and are an equal distant from each other. apiece degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km) apart there is a variation due to the fact that the earth is not a holy sphere but an oblate ellipsoid (slightly egg-shaped). To remember latitude, imagine them as the horizontal rungs of a ladder (ladder-tude). Degrees latitude are numbered from 0 to 90 north and south. Zero degrees is the equator, the imaginary line which divides our planet into the northern and southern hemispheres. 90 north is the North Pole and 90 south is the atomic number 16 Pole.LongitudeThe vertical longitude lines are also known as visors. They converge at the poles and are widest at the equator (about 69 miles or 111 km apart). Zero degrees longitude is placed at Greenwich, England (0). The degrees continue 180 east and 180 westbound where they roleplay and form the Internatio nal Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. Greenwich, the berth of the British Royal Greenwich Observatory, was established as the site of the prime meridian by an international conference in 1884.How Latitude and Longitude Work in concertTo precisely locate points on the earths surface, degrees longitude and latitude scram been divided into minutes () and seconds (). There are 60 minutes in each degree. Each minute is divided into 60 seconds. Seconds can be further divided into tenths, hundredths, or even thousandths. For example, the U.S. Capitol is located at 385323N , 770027W (38 degrees, 53 minutes, and 23 seconds north of the equator and 77 degrees, no minutes and 27 seconds west of the meridian passing through Greenwich, England).