LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE

CONTENT

1. Earth as a Sphere

2. Identification of:

• North and South Poles
• The Lines of Longitude and Latitude
• Small Circles and Great Circles
• Meridian and Equator
• Radius of the Earth
• Radius of Parallel of Latitude
• Parallel of Latitude

Earth as a Sphere

A sphere is a ball shape, not exactly circular. The earth is a sphere of radius about 6,370 km. It has two major axes, namely North – South (N – S) axis and East – West (E – W) axis. The N – S axis is called the polar axis ie a straight line through the centre of the earth joining the North and South pole. The earth rotates about its polar axis.

The North and South end points of the polar axis are called the north pole (N) and the south pole (S) respectively.

The Lines of Latitude and Longitude

The spherical earth has imaginery lines called lines of latitude and longitude which are drawn on the earth’s surface to determine the location of any point.