Lines drawn on a globe are known as latitudes and longitudes. What purpose do…

2024

Lines drawn on a globe are known as latitudes and longitudes. What purpose do these lines serve?

  1. A.

    To make designs on globe

  2. B.

    To locate places on earth

  3. C.

    To beautify the globe

  4. D.

    They are furrows on earth and indicate physical features of the earth

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B

A coordinate system fixes the position of any point on a surface using two intersecting sets of reference lines - for a globe, these are latitude (circles running east-west, measuring position north or south of the equator) and longitude (arcs running from pole to pole, measuring position east or west of a reference meridian).

Combining any latitude value with any longitude value pinpoints a specific location on the earth's surface (the one exception being the poles themselves, where every meridian converges to a single point), so a navigator, cartographer, or student can pinpoint any city, ship, or landmark simply by stating its latitude and longitude - this locational function is the entire reason this grid is drawn on a globe.

  • To make designs on globe - this treats the grid as decorative artwork; latitude and longitude carry no aesthetic purpose.

  • To beautify the globe - the lines are drawn purely for measurement and reference, not ornamentation.

  • They are furrows on earth and indicate physical features of the earth - this confuses an imaginary reference grid with a physical groove or landform; latitude and longitude lines do not exist as marks on the ground and do not indicate mountains, rivers, or other terrain features.

Hence, latitude and longitude lines serve to locate places on earth.

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