Question

The distance between the longitudes decreases towards the ________.

Answer 1

Hint:Since the earth is spherical in shape, it is difficult to describe locations on it relative to other locations. This is why, imaginary lines called latitudes and longitudes are drawn on it. Longitudes are imaginary lines that run north to south on the earth. Latitudes are parallel imaginary lines that run east to west.

Complete answer:The longitudes are semi circles that run from east to west, joining the north pole and the south pole.
The latitudes on the other hand,are parallel lines running east to west. However the longitudes are not parallel and the distance between the longitudes change with latitude.

The distance between the longitudes is the maximum at the equator.
The equator is an imaginary line that divides earth into northern and southern hemisphere. It is at 0 degree latitude. Here the longitudes are farthest from each other.

Distance between the longitudes however decrease towards the pole where all the longitudes converge. The distance between the longitude is the maximum at 69miles in the equator. 40 degree north or south of equator, the difference in length between a degree of longitude is 53miles.

This happens because the earth is not a perfect sphere. Due to centrifugal force exerted because of rotation of earth, earth’s equatorial diameter is different and more than its polar diameter. The distance between longitudes decreases towards the poles as all the longitudes merge at the poles.

Hence the correct answer is ‘ the distance between the longitudes decreases towards the poles.’

Note:The distance between latitudes are more or less constant. Each latitude is approximately 69miles apart. Another fact to remember is that the Earth's gravitational pull is slightly weaker at the Equator due to its equatorial bulge.