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 contact distant from each other. Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km) apart there is a variation due to the fact that the earth is not a perfect 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 southwestern 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 180 east and 180 west where they meet and form the International Date Lin e in the Pacific Ocean. Greenwich, the site of the British purplish Greenwich Observatory, was established as the site of the prime meridian by an international conference in 1884.How Latitude and Longitude Work TogetherTo precisely locate points on the earths surface, degrees longitude and latitude have been divide 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).