Geography
Give a geographical reason for each of the following:
(i) The International Date Line deviates and goes zig-zag near some islands in the Pacific Ocean.
(ii) The Greenwich time is called the Greenwich Mean Time.
(iii) Great Circles are the shortest routes between two places.
Answer
(i) The International Date Line deviates and goes zig-zag near some islands in the Pacific Ocean to avoid the confusion of having different dates within the same country.
(ii) The Greenwich time is called the Greenwich Mean Time as while fixing the time zones, the time at Greenwich has been selected as the mean time and provides the basis for calculating the Standard Time of other places.
(iii) Great Circles are the shortest routes between two places as we can connect any two places on the earth's surface by the curvature line of the great circle. And this curvature is the smallest possible route between those two places, because this curvature directly connects those places or points.
Related Questions
State with one practical example how is time of a place found with the help of longitudes.
State the meaning of the International Date Line.
State with an example how time lost or gained is computed with reference to the International Date Line.
Draw a well labelled diagram to show that places on the same longitude have the same time.