LATITUDES & LONGITUDES

LATITUDES SO, WHAT ARE AND LONGITUDES? LATITUDE... LONGITUDE... LATITUDE IS THE ANGULAR DISTANCE, IN DEGREES, OF A POINT NORTH OR SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR. THEY ARE OFTEN REFERRED TO AS PARALLELS. LONGITUDE... LONGITUDE IS THE ANGULAR DISTANCE, IN DEGREES, OF A POINT EAST OR WEST OF THE PRIME MERIDIAN. THEY ARE OFTEN REFERRED TO AS MERIDIANS.

LETS COMPARE... LONGITUDES… LATITUDES… *NOT PARALLEL, *PARALLEL CIRCLES, RUNNING FROM WEST TO EAST. *NOT ALL OF THE SAME LENGTH. *180 IN NUMBER. *DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM EQUAL. *DETERMINES HEAT ZONES. LONGITUDES… *NOT PARALLEL, CONVERGING AT THE POLES. *ALL OF THE SAME LENGTH. *360 IN NUMBER. *DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM NOT EQUAL. *DETERMINES TIME ZONES.

*THERE ARE 180 PARALLELS OF LATITUDE. *ALL LATITUDES ARE NOT OF EQUAL LENGTH. *THE EQUATOR, AT 0˚, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LINE OF LATITUDE. IT IS THE LARGEST CIRCLE THAT CAN BE DRAWN ON THE GLOBE. *IT DIVIDES THE EARTH INTO ITS NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HEMISPHERES. *THE NORTH POLE AND THE SOUTH POLE ARE FIXED POINTS AND SERVE AS BASIC POINTS OF REFERENCE. *THERE ARE SEVEN SPECIAL LINES OF LATITUDE: -EQUATOR…………………………….0˚ -TROPIC OF CANCER………………...23 ½ ˚ N -ARCTIC CIRCLE………………………66 ½ ˚ N -NORTH POLE………………………….90˚ N -TROPIC OF CAPRICORN…………….23 ½˚ S -ANTARCTIC CIRCLE…………………66 ½ ˚ S -SOUTH POLE…………………………..90˚ S

*ANOTHER FIXED LINE OF REFERENCE, THE PRIME MERIDIAN, RUNS FROM THE NORTH POLE TO THE SOUTH POLE. *THESE ARE NOT PARALLEL, THEY CONVERGE AT THE POLES. *THERE ARE 360 MERIDIANS OF LONGITUDE. *ALL LONGITUDES ARE OF EQUAL LENGTH. *THE PRIME MERIDIAN LIES AT 0˚. *IT DIVIDES THE EARTH INTO ITS EASTERN AND WESTERN HEMISPHERES.

LATITUDES DETERMINE THE HEAT ZONES OF THE EARTH... LONGITUDES DETERMINE THE TIME ZONES OF THE EARTH.

EARTH TAKES 24 HOURS TO COMPLETE 360˚ OF ITS ROTATION. THEREFORE, TO TURN 1˚ OF SPACE IT TAKES: 24 X 60 = 4 MINUTES. 360 THIS MEANS THAT FOR EACH 1˚ LONGITUDE TOWARDS EAST A TIME OF 4 MINUTES IS ADDED, AND FOR EACH 1˚ OF LONGITUDE TOWARDS WEST A TIME OF 4 MINUTES HAS TO BE SUBTRACTED.

IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN INTERNATIONAL UNIFORMITY A UNIFORM TIME CORRESPONDING TO THE PRIME MERIDIAN IS ADOPTED BY ALL COUNTRIES. THIS IS CALLED THE GREENWICH MEAN TIME OR G.M.T. IN INDIA, 82.5˚, AT ALLAHABAD, DETERMINES THE STANDARD TIME FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY. IT IS CALLED THE INDIAN STANDARD TIME, I.S.D.

TIME ZONES... A TIME ZONE IS AN AREA IN THE WORLD WHERE CLOCKS RECORD THE SAME TIME. THE U.S.A. HAS FIVE DIFFERENT TIME ZONES! INDIA IS 5 HOURS 30 MINUTES AHEAD OF GREENWICH.

FOR CONVENIENCE EARTH HAS BEEN DIVIDED INTO 24 TIME ZONES. THIS WAS DONE BY A CANADIAN CALLED STANDARD FLEMMING. EACH ZONE IS OF 15 DEGREES.