Scribd
Upload
36 views

L London 70º N: MATH 117 Arclength Around The Earth

This document discusses calculating distances between points on the Earth's surface using longitude and latitude. It provides two cases: 1) When points are on the equator, distance is calculated using the difference in longitude angles. 2) When points share the same meridian, distance is the difference in latitude angles. An example calculates the 809 mile distance between two points 11.7 degrees apart in longitude on the equator, and the 927 mile distance between two points 13.4 degrees apart in latitude on the 50 degree east meridian.

Uploaded by

KnowledgeIsTruePower
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
36 views

L London 70º N: MATH 117 Arclength Around The Earth

This document discusses calculating distances between points on the Earth's surface using longitude and latitude. It provides two cases: 1) When points are on the equator, distance is calculated using the difference in longitude angles. 2) When points share the same meridian, distance is the difference in latitude angles. An example calculates the 809 mile distance between two points 11.7 degrees apart in longitude on the equator, and the 927 mile distance between two points 13.4 degrees apart in latitude on the 50 degree east meridian.

Uploaded by

KnowledgeIsTruePower
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Dr.

Neal, WKU

MATH 117

Arclength Around the Earth

Part 1

The radius of the Earth is about 3963.2 miles. Longitude measures the East/West angle
! from the Prime Meridian, which runs vertically from the North Pole to the South Pole
and passes just east of London, England. Latitude measures the North/South angle !
measured from the Equator.

L = London

70 N
L

West

"
!
0
50 E

Equator

Prime
Meridian

Case 1: If we know the longitudes of two points on the Equator, then we can find the
distance between them using

d =! "

#
" 3963.2 miles
180

where ! is the (degree) angle between the points.

Example 1. Find the distance between the following pairs of points on the Equator:
(a) 40 42! W to 52 24 ! E

(b) 40 42! E to 52 24 ! E

Dr. Neal, WKU

Solution. (a) Because one longitude is West and the other is East, we add these longitude
angles to find the total angle in between:

! = 40 42! + 52 24 ! = 92 66 ! = 93 6! = 93 +

6
= 93.1
60

So the distance between these points is

d = 93.1 !

"
! 3963.2 6439.8 miles
180

(b) Now both longitude angles are on the same side of Prime Meridian; so we subtract
them to find the angle in between:

! = 52 24 ! " 40 42 ! = 51 84 ! " 40 42! = 11 42! = 11.7


So the distance between these points is

"
! 3963.2 809.3 miles
180

d = 11.7 !

Note: When ! = 360, then we obtain the entire circumference of the Earth:

"
! 3963.2 = 2" ! 3963.2 24,901.52 miles
180

C = 360 !

Case 2: If two points are on the same meridian (i.e., directly North/South of each other
with the same longitude angle), then we can find the distance between them by using
the angle between the latitudes.

Example 2. Find the distance between the following pair of points:


50 E, 30 56 ! N to 50E, 44 20! N
Solution. Both points are at 50 E, so they are directly North/South of each other.
Because they are both North, we subtract the latitudes to find the angle in between:

! = 44 20" # 30 56" = 43 80 " # 30 56 " = 13 24" = 13 +


So the distance between these points is

d = 13. 4 !

"
! 3963.2 926.89 miles
180

24
= 13.4
60

You might also like