Question

Justify why the IDL is important when calculating time

Answer 1

Answer:

IDL helps us to know the time

Answer 2

International Date Line and Time

Explanation:

• International Date Line is an arbitrary but imaginary line that runs on the Earth’s surface from the North to the South poles.
• As one crosses the IDL, the day as well as the date will change. It is called the line of demarcation which divides the Earth into western and eastern hemispheres.  
• When Earth is divided by imaginary meridian lines running from north to south poles, we get 360 longitude meridians and 180 latitude parallels.
• IDL is the prime meridian which passes through Greenwich Observatory at England. The time at the prime meridian is considered as the Greenwich Mean Time.  
• The imaginary meridian longitude and latitude lines divide the Earth into grid. The grids are further divided into degrees, where a single degree is parted into 60 minutes and single minute to 60 seconds.
• So one degree will have 60 minutes and covers 69 miles of distance. A single latitude degree is nearly 111 km far with a longitude degree near the equator being 111.31 km far.
• Thus IDL is used to calculate time.