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What are the main characteristics of parallels?
Answer:
Answer by Student
- Parallels are imaginary lines that run east-west on the Earth’s surface and measure the distance north or south of the equator.
- The equator is the longest parallel and divides the Earth into two equal halves: the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.
- The lengths of the parallels decrease as they move away from the equator towards the poles.
- All parallels are equidistant from each other and the distance between any two parallels at an interval of 1 degree is 111 kilometers.
- There are 180 parallels of latitudes apart from the equator and the measure of the angular distance of the north-south of the equator is called the latitude.
Detailed Answer by Teachoo
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Parallels are
imaginary lines
that run east-west on the Earth’s surface and measure the distance north or south of the equator. They are not visible on the Earth, but they are drawn on maps and globes to help us locate places and study the Earth’s geography.
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The equator is the
longest parallel
and divides the Earth into two equal halves: the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. The equator has a latitude of 0° and it is also called the Great Circle, because it has the same radius as the Earth.
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The lengths of the parallels
decrease
as they move away from the equator towards the poles. This is because they are smaller circles that are concentric with the equator. The shortest parallels are at the poles, where they have a latitude of 90°N or 90°S and a length of zero.
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All parallels are
equidistant
from each other and the distance between any two parallels at an interval of 1 degree is 111 kilometers. This is because one degree of latitude corresponds to one 360th part of the Earth’s circumference, which is approximately 40,000 kilometers.
- There are 180 parallels of latitudes apart from the equator and the measure of the angular distance of the north-south of the equator is called the latitude. The latitude of a place can range from 0° to 90° north or south of the equator. For example, New Delhi has a latitude of 28.6°N, which means it is located 28.6° north of the equator
