G. Think and answer.
1. What problems would cartographers face in trying to represent the spherical Earth on a flat surface
without distortions
Answers
Answer:
What problems would cartographers face in trying to represent the spherical earth on a flat surface without distortions?
Ans....
The same problems that cartographers have faced for hundreds of years.
First, the earth is not a perfect sphere. It bulges at the middle and is a bit lopsided and certainly does not have a smooth uniform surface (think mountains and deep ocean ravines).
How is this represented on a flat surface? Well different kinds of projections have been devised and used over the years. A projection is an algorithm that determines how the curved surface is flattened. That in it self creates distortions. The most famous is the Mercator projection which used to be on all the school maps. Greenland is shown as a huge place when actually it’s not. Mercator was devised to make it easy for the old sailing ship to navigate the world. In the US, each state has it’s own State Plane system which may be further divided into 2–5 sections.
Each projection has a specific purpose and look to it. So the cartographer has to determine what the map is for and what scale it represents and then decide if any distortion is acceptable.