Question

What are the degrees of latitudes and longitudes further divided into? 1

a) angles and minutes

b) minutes and seconds

c) degrees and hours

d) angles and hours​

Answer 1

Explanation:

Any point on Earth can be defined by the intersection of its lines of latitude and longitude. Latitude is measured as the angle from the equator, to the Earth’s center, to your position on the Earth’s surface (Figure2.1.1). It is expressed as degrees north or south of the equator (0o), with the poles at a latitude of 90o. Thus the poles are referred to as high latitude, while the equatorial region is considered low latitude. Lines of equal latitude are always the same distance apart, and so they are called parallels of latitude; they never converge. However, the circles created by the parallels of latitude do get smaller as they approach the poles.

Figure 2.1.1 The latitude of a point on the Earth’s surface is determined by the angle (ø) between the point and the equator, passing through Earth’s center (Peter Mercator [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons).

One degree of latitude is divided into 60 minutes (‘). One minute of latitude equals one nautical mile, which is equal to 1.15 land miles (1.85 km). Each minute of latitude is further divided into 60 seconds (“). So traditionally, positions have been expressed as degrees/minutes/seconds, e.g. 36o 15′ 32″ N. However, with modern digital technology, positions are increasingly expressed as decimals, such as 36o 15.53′ N, or 36.2589o N. (A useful tool for converting coordinates between these formats can be found .