The Arctic Circle is drawn at which latitude?
- A.23.5 degrees north
- B.45 degrees north
- C.66.5 degrees north
- D.90 degrees north
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, 66.5 degrees north. The Arctic Circle marks the latitude beyond which the sun stays above the horizon for the whole of at least one day in midsummer and below it for the whole of at least one day in midwinter, the phenomenon known as the midnight sun and the polar night.
Option A, 23.5 degrees north, is the Tropic of Cancer, the northern limit of the overhead sun. Option B, 45 degrees north, is merely the midpoint between the equator and the pole and has no special astronomical meaning. Option D, 90 degrees north, is the North Pole itself, the highest latitude that exists. The two numbers to fix are 23.5 and 66.5, and note that they add up to 90, since the tilt of the earth's axis of 23.5 degrees decides both of them.
Read the full article: Latitudes, Longitudes and Time: Grid, IST and Date Line
Practice Questions
View allIndian Standard Time is based on which meridian?
- A.75 degrees east
- B.82 degrees 30 minutes east
- C.88 degrees 30 minutes east
- D.90 degrees east
Show answer
This meridian passes near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and runs roughly through the middle of the country, so it was adopted as the standard meridian of India.
Read the full explanation →One degree of longitude corresponds to how much difference in time?
- A.One minute
- B.Four minutes
- C.Fifteen minutes
- D.One hour
Show answer
The earth completes one rotation of 360 degrees in 24 hours, that is 1,440 minutes, and dividing 1,440 by 360 gives four minutes for every degree of longitude.
Read the full explanation →The Tropic of Cancer does not pass through which of the following Indian states?
- A.Jharkhand
- B.Chhattisgarh
- C.Odisha
- D.Tripura
Show answer
The Tropic of Cancer passes through eight states, namely Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.
Read the full explanation →Which is the only parallel of latitude that is a great circle?
- A.The equator
- B.The Tropic of Cancer
- C.The Arctic Circle
- D.The Tropic of Capricorn
Show answer
A great circle is one whose plane passes through the centre of the sphere and which therefore divides it into two equal halves.
Read the full explanation →The Prime Meridian passes through which place?
- A.Paris
- B.Greenwich
- C.Rome
- D.Washington
Show answer
The meridian running through it was accepted as the zero meridian, from which all longitudes are counted east and west, and its local time is Greenwich Mean Time, the reference for the world's standard times.
Read the full explanation →