Latitude and Longitude Essay

When face at a map, latitude lines run horizontally. parallel of latitude lines atomic number 18 also known as parallels since they ar parallel and are an equal distant from all(prenominal) other. Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km) apart there is a variation repayable to the fact that the earth is not a double-dyed(a) sphere but an oblate ellipsoid (slightly egg-shaped). To dream up latitude, imagine them as the horizontal rungs of a black market (ladder-tude). Degrees latitude are numbered from 0 to 90 unification and south. Zero degrees is the equator, the imaginary line which divides our planet into the Yankee and southern hemispheres. 90 north is the North depot and 90 south is the South Pole.LongitudeThe vertical longitude lines are also known as meridians. They converge at the poles and are widest at the equator (about 69 miles or 111 km apart). Zero degrees longitude is located at Greenwich, England (0). The degrees continue one hundred eigh ty east and 180 west where they meet and defecate the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. Greenwich, the site of the British Royal Greenwich Observatory, was established as the site of the prime meridian by an foreign conference in 1884.How Latitude and Longitude Work in concertTo precisely locate points on the earths surface, degrees longitude and latitude have been divided into proceeding () and seconds (). on that point are 60 minutes in distributively degree. Each minute is divided into 60 seconds. Seconds washbowl be further divided into tenths, hundredths, or withal 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 with Greenwich, England).