ICSE CLASS 9 // GEOGRAPHY// Important Questions of Geography // Chapter: GEOGRAPHIC GRID - LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES

1.How do you fix the position of a point on a sheet of graph paper?

answer: The position of a point on the sheet of paper can be fixed through X and Y coordinates.

The graph sheet has two axis namely x- axis and y- axis.

Based on the coordinated of both x- axis and y- axis the points can be placed on the sheet of graph paper and a line can be drawn.

The graph sheet is majorly used in statics and coordinate geometry problems.

2. Why are distances from reference lines measured in angles?-

answer: The point of intersection of Earth’s surface between the latitude and longitude from the Earth.

As Earth isn’t flat and is bulging the measurement pristine needs accuracy in terms of distance.

Thus, latitude calculations are made in angles made with the Earth and the Equator.

Similarly, longitudes are the measurement, which is made with the centre of the Earth and the Prime Meridian.

These are always in degree calculations.

3.How are the poles of the Earth fixed? 

answer: The axis of rotation of the Earth holds the Earth's poles in place.

4. What do you mean by the latitude of a place?

answer: The latitude of a place is the angular distance of that place North or South of the equator, as measured from the centre of the earth.

5 How are latitudes measured? 

 6 Explain why there is no higher latitude than 90°N and 90's. 

answer: Latitude is the angular distance from the plane of the equator. All of surfaces planes or circles make a maximum angle of 90° from the plane of the equator. Therefore maximum latitude is 90° N in the Northern Hemisphere and 90° Southern Hemisphere.

7. Explain why the lines of a latitude are called the parallels of latitude.

answer: Latitudes are small circles parallel to the equator. The equator is a circle whose centre is the centre of the earth and it is a great circle. All other latitudes are circles with their centres on the axis of rotation which is perpendicular to the equatorial plane. Hence all latitudes other than 0 degrees are parallel to the equator and hence are called parallels. Any two latitudes are not only parallel to the equator but parallel to each other also. The distance between any two adjacent latitudes is about 111 km.

8.Name five important parallels of latitude.

answer: Equator (Latitude 0o)

Tropic of Cancer (Latitude 23.5oN)

Tropic of Capricorn (Latitude 23.5oS)

Arctic Circle (Latitude 66.5oN).

Antarctic Circle (Latitude 66.5oS).

9.What are the limits of the North Temperate Zone? 

answer: The north temperate zone extends from the Tropic of Cancer (approximately 23.5° north latitude) to the Arctic Circle (approximately 66.5° north latitude). 

10. Which is the reference line for measuring longitude? 

ANSWER: The prime meridian is the line of 0° longitude, the starting point for measuring distance both east and west around Earth.

11. What is meant by the longitude of a place? 

answer: Longitude measures distance east or west of the prime meridian. Lines of longitude, also called meridians, are imaginary lines that divide the Earth. They run north to south from pole to pole, but they measure the distance east or west

12. Explain why the lines of longitude are called meridians of longitude. 

answer: Lines of longitude are called meridians of longitude because the sun crosses a meridian at noon. So, all places on a particular meridian will have noon at the same time.

13. State two properties of the lines of latitude. 

answer:  1.Aside the equator, all latitudes are small circles. 

2. Always parallel to one another.

14. State two properties of the lines of longitude. NIS newisphere.

answer: State two properties of lines of longitude

1. The distance between two consecutive longitude decreases gradually with distance from the equator.

 2. All lines of longitude are semicircles of equal length.

15.The distance between two consecutive parallels of latitude is equal to about 111 km but the distance between two consecutive meridians of longitude is equal to 111 km only at the Equator. Give one reason.

answer: The distance between two successive lines of latitude remain constant (111km) because latitudes run parallel to each other and never meets the other latitude. But distance between the longitudes decreases as they go towards the Pole.

16 Explain why 1° latitude is equal to 111 km throughout whereas 1° longitude in terms of distance varies.

answer:  This is because lines of latitude are parallel lines. Therefore one degree of latitude. = 40 000/360 = 111km approximately. On the other hand the distance between two consecutive meridians of longitude is 111 km only at the equator and gradually decreases with distance from the equator.

17. State the rate of change of time with longitude.

answer: The time increases at a rate of 4 minutes per one degree of longitude, east of the Prime Meridian.

 18. How is the local time of a place fixed?

answer: Local time of a place is determined by the position of Sun in the sky. The shadow cast by the Sun is shortest during the noon and longest during sunrise and sunset

19. Why is Standard Time considered necessary? 

answer: The Standard Time is considered necessary because if every city had to keep the time of their own meridian, there would have been much difference in the local time of one city and the other. This would have led to a lot of confusion.

20. What is the International Date Line?

answer: The International Date Line, established in 1884, passes through the mid-Pacific Ocean and roughly follows a 180 degrees longitude north-south line on the Earth. It is located halfway round the world from the prime meridian—the zero degrees longitude established in Greenwich, England, in 1852.

21.why do some countries have many time zones?

answer: Large countries like U.S.A,Canada, Australia and Russia have many time zones because they have a large width and a vast East to West extent. Russia has as many as 11 time zones and USA has six zones. From east to west they are known as Hawaii time zone, Alaska time zone, Eastern, Central, mountain and Pacific time zones.

22. Mention two places where the International Date Line deviates from 180° longitude.

answer:  Two places where the International Date Line deviates from 1800 longitude is in the Bering Straits between Alaska and Siberia and around Fiji and Tonga islands.

23. What is a Great Circle?

answer:  Any circle that circumnavigates the Earth and passes through the centre of the Earth is called a great circle

24. How is a Great Circle useful? 

answer: Great circles are also useful in planning routes. The shortest path between two points on the surface of a sphere is always a segment of a great circle. Plotting great circles comes in very handy for airplane pilots trying to fly the shortest distance between two points.

25. Except for the Equator, other parallels of latitude are not Great Circles. Why?

answer: Lines of latitude north and south of the equator are not great circles because their length decreases as they move toward the poles and they do not pass through Earth's center.

IV. Give reasons for the following:

1. Latitudes and longitudes are expressed in angles.

ANSWER:  Latitudes and Longitudes are always expressed in angles because they represent angular distance as the earth is spherical in shape.

2. Among the parallels, the Equator is the only Great Circle.

ANSWER: The Equator is the only east-west line that is a great circle. All other parallels (lines of latitude) get smaller as you get near the poles. Great circles can be found on spheres as big as planets and as small as oranges. If you cut an orange exactly in half, the line you cut is the orange's great circle

3. The distance between successive lines of latitudes remains constant.

ANSWER: The distance between two consecutive parallels of latitude is everywhere the same. This is because the lines of latitude are parallel lines. Therefore one degree of latitude.

4. Lines of longitudes are called meridians.

ANSWER:  

 5. Local time differs from place to place.

ANSWER: local time at different places. The need for time zones around the Earth comes from the fact that the Earth rotates once approximately every 24 hours, and so at any instant every place on Earth has a different view of the Sun. When it is midday in one place, it has to be midnight halfway around the world from there.