You have become lost while sailing on a body of water. Fortunately it is the day of the summer
solstice and you have a UT clock. The clock reads 19:00 hrs. The Sun has an altitude of 73.5
and an azimuthal angle of 180
.
10.What is your latitude?
a.73.5o north
b.23.5o south
c.40o north
d.50onorth
e.Cannot be determined from the information given.
11. What is your longitude?
a. 105o west
b.7o east
c.285o west
d. 155o east
e.None of the above.
Please help me understand the steps of logic necessary to complete a question such as this. Thank you so much for your time. It is much appreciated.
solstice and you have a UT clock. The clock reads 19:00 hrs. The Sun has an altitude of 73.5
and an azimuthal angle of 180
.
10.What is your latitude?
a.73.5o north
b.23.5o south
c.40o north
d.50onorth
e.Cannot be determined from the information given.
11. What is your longitude?
a. 105o west
b.7o east
c.285o west
d. 155o east
e.None of the above.
Please help me understand the steps of logic necessary to complete a question such as this. Thank you so much for your time. It is much appreciated.
-
The azimuthal angle of 180 degrees means the sun is due south of you. So it's noon where you are. But the clock says it's 19:00 hours in London. So they had their noon 7 hours earlier. So that means you are west of them by 7 times zones. There are 24 times zones around the 360 degrees of longitude, so each time zone is 15 degrees. 7 x 15 = 105, so you are 105 deg west of London. OK, Grenwich. Your longitude is 105 deg W.
The earth's axis is tilted 23.4° towards the sun at the summer solstice. If you were at the north pole, you'd see the sun 23.4° above the horizon. But you are seeing it at 73.5°. So you must be down from the pole by the difference. 73.5 - 23.4 = 50.1. But latitude is measured up from the equator, not down from the pole. So your latitude is 90 - 50.1 = 39.9 deg north. I guess there is some rounding going on somewhere, so 40 deg north so it matches one of your choices.
BTW, I don't think this is a *beginners* question.
The earth's axis is tilted 23.4° towards the sun at the summer solstice. If you were at the north pole, you'd see the sun 23.4° above the horizon. But you are seeing it at 73.5°. So you must be down from the pole by the difference. 73.5 - 23.4 = 50.1. But latitude is measured up from the equator, not down from the pole. So your latitude is 90 - 50.1 = 39.9 deg north. I guess there is some rounding going on somewhere, so 40 deg north so it matches one of your choices.
BTW, I don't think this is a *beginners* question.