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O B O N
G L L
WHAT IS GLOBE?
Globe is a miniature model of the earth.
WHAT IS THE AXIS OF THE EARTH?
It is an imaginary line passing through the North Pole to the South
Pole. Earth’s Axis is tilted 23.5º to the orbital plane.
WHAT IS THE EQUATOR?
It is an imaginary line which divides the earth into two
equal parts.
•The Northern part of the Equator is referred to as Northern Hemisphere.
•The Southern part of the Equator is referred to as Southern Hemisphere
Some Important Latitudes
Tropic of Cancer: (23½° N) in the Northern Hemisphere.
Tropic of Capricorn: (23½° S) in the Southern Hemisphere.
Arctic Circle: at 66½° north of the equator.
Antarctic Circle: at 66½° south of the equator.
66½° N
Arctic Circle
23½° N
Tropic of Cancer
Equator 0°
Tropic of Capricorn
23½° S
Antarctic Circle
66½° S
TEMPERATURE ZONES
There are three different zones. Namely:
TORRID ZONE
TEMPERATE ZONE
FRIGID ZONE
What is Torrid Zone?
The mid-day sun is exactly overhead at least once a year on all latitudes
Where? in between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
So this area receives the maximum heat and called Torrid Zone.
What is the Temperate Zone?
The area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle in the Northern Hemisphere plus
The area bounded by the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle in the Southern
Hemisphere. Moderate temperature, therefore, called Temperate Zones.
What is Frigid Zone?
Areas lying between the Arctic Circle and the Northern Hemisphere and the Antarctic Circle
and the South Pole in the Southern Hemisphere are very cold.
Important Imaginary Lines
Meridian: Lines connecting the North Pole to the South Pole.
Parallels: Circles parallel to the equator.
Latitude and Longitudes: Coordinate system used to locate the point on the earth.
Meridian Parallels
Latitude and Longitudes
What is Prime Meridian?
All latitudes are of different sizes but this is not the case with longitudes, all meridians are of
equal length.
The question arose where should we have a reference line. Finally, they decided to choose the
meridian which passed through Greenwich the British Royal Observatory.
Note: By measuring the angle of the Pole Star from your place, you can know the latitude of
your place.
Relation Between Longitude and Time
As the earth rotates from west to east, those places east of Greenwich will be ahead of
Greenwich time and those to the west will be behind it.
The rate of difference can be calculated as follows. The earth rotates 360° in about 24
hours, which means 15° an hour or 1° in four minutes. Thus, when it is 12 noon at
Greenwich, the time at 15° east of Greenwich will be 15 × 4 = 60 minutes, i.e., 1 hour ahead
of Greenwich Time, which means 1 p.m.
But at 15° west of Greenwich, the time will be behind Greenwich time by one hour, i.e., it
will be 11.00 a.m. Similarly, at 180°, it will be midnight when it is 12 noon at Greenwich.
India located East of Greenwich at 82° 30’E, is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of GMT.
Need for standard time
The local time of the places which are on different
meridians is bound to differ. For example, it will be difficult
to prepare a time-table for trains which cross several
longitudes. In India, for instance, there will be a difference
of about 1 hour and 45 minutes in the local times of Dwarka
in Gujarat and Dibrugarh in Assam.
It is, therefore, necessary to adopt the local time of some
central meridian of a country as the standard time for the
country. In India, the longitude of 82½° E (82° 30'E) is
treated as the standard meridian. The local time at this
meridian is taken as the standard time for the whole
country. It is known as the Indian Standard Time (IST).
What Are Time Zones?
Large countries with vast longitudinal extent do not have a
single standard time for the whole country. Generally,
search countries go for more than one time zone each
approximately 15° of longitude apart.
Russia uses 11 time zones
Canada uses 6.
The USA is spread across 6 Time Zones (inc. Hawaii Time
Zone).
China extends across 4 Times Zones
IMPORTANT TERMS
Globe: The globe is a model of the earth, as it is, but in a very small and convenient
form. It shows all continents, countries, and oceans, labeled.
Axis: The imaginary line about which the earth rotates once in 24 hours is called its
axis.
Poles: The two extreme points of the axis are called the Poles. One of them is the
North Pole and the other is the South Pole.
Equator: The circle passing through the center of the earth, and perpendicular to
the axis, is called the equator.
Prime Meridian: The circle passing through Greenwich in Britain, and perpendicular
to the equator, and parallel to the axis, is called the Prime Meridian.
Latitude: One of the imaginary circles parallel to the Equator is called latitude. The
latitudes have their centers on one common line and they have different radii.
Longitude: One of the imaginary circles parallel to the Prime Meridian is called
longitude. The longitudes have their centers at the center of the earth and have the
same radius as the Earth.
CONTD...
Hemisphere: One of the two equal halves of the earth’s spherical
shape is called a hemisphere. If the earth is halved along the equator,
we get the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres. If we halve it
perpendicular to the equator, we get the Eastern and the Western
Hemispheres.
Heat Zones: Heat zones are the different zones of the earth, where
the sun’s rays fall differently, thus causing different climate patterns.
These zones are called the Torrid Zone, the two Temperate Zones, and
the two Frigid Zones.
Greenwich: Greenwich is a place in the United Kingdom, near
London, whose time is used as a standard all over the world. The
Prime Meridian passes through this place, and so it is the place which
divides the earth into the Eastern and the Western Hemispheres.
Standard Time: Standard time of a country or region is the time
regarded as a standard for that place, despite the fact that there
exists time difference geographically across that region. It is used only
for convenience.
What is the value of the prime meridian.
• 90 degrees
• zero degree
• 60 degree 1. Zero degree
• 180 degrees
The Arctic circle is located in
• the northern hemisphere
• the southern hemisphere
• the eastern hemisphere
• the Western hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere
Frigid zone lies near –
• the poles
• equator The Poles
• tropic of Cancer
• tropic of Capricorn.
India is located in
• North-eastern hemisphere
• North-Western hemisphere
• South Western hemisphere
• South-eastern hemisphere
North-eastern Hemisphere
Which country has the maximum time zones
• USA
• China Russia
• Russia
• Canada
THE Antarctic circle is located in the
• Northern hemisphere
• Southern hemisphere Southern Hemisphere
• both of the above
• none of the above
What is correct with respect to meridian
• Meridian is an imaginary semi great circle
• all meridians are of differ in length
• the prime meridian and 180-degree meridian divides the earth into two
equal halves the eastern hemisphere and the Western hemisphere.
• All are wrong
The Prime Meridian And 180-degree Meridian Divides The Earth Into
Two Equal Halves The Eastern Hemisphere And The Western
Hemisphere.
