Editing LatitudeAndLongitude

You are currently browsing as guest.. To change this, fill in the following fields: Username Password Click here to reset your password	Who can read this page? The World Members Council Admin
You have been granted an edit lock on this page until Sun Sep 8 16:43:20 2024. Press to finish editing.	Who can edit this page? World editing disabled Members Council Admin

First devised by Eratosthenes, the latitude and longitude are
angles that together specify one's position on the Earth's surface.

Assuming the Earth to be a perfect sphere, natural fixed points
of reference are the North and South Poles.  A natural fixed line
of reference is the equator, the GreatCircle of points that are
equidistant from the poles.

If we choose one arbitrary point on the equator, that defines a
unique GreatCircle that goes through both poles and the given point.
This Great Circle is called the Prime Meridian.

Now for each point on the Earth's surface we can define a pair of
angles. The angle required to rotate the given point to the Prime
Meridian is called the Longitude.  Once there, the angle required
to rotate the point to the equator (while keeping the Prime Meridian
fixed) is called the Latitude.

Determining one's Latitude is comparatively simple using a sextant
or octant.  Determining one's Longitude was one of the grand challenges
of the 18th century, and was referred to as the LongitudeProblem.
----
CategoryMaths