Which geographic coordinate runs east and west (parallel to the equator), starting at the equator and increasing toward the poles, with north considered positive and south negative?

Which geographic coordinate runs east and west (parallel to the equator), starting at the equator and increasing toward the poles, with north considered positive and south negative?

• A. Latitude
• B. Longitude
• C. Solar Day
• D. Local Mean Time

Answer: (A)

Latitudes are the geographic coordinates that run east-west, lying as lines parallel to the equator. They measure distance north or south of the equator, starting at 0° at the equator and increasing toward the poles, with positive values to the north and negative values to the south. This is exactly the pattern described: lines that run parallel to the equator and use north as positive and south as negative. Longitudes, by contrast, run north-south and measure east or west from the Prime Meridian. Solar Day and Local Mean Time are time concepts, not geographic coordinates. So the described coordinate is latitude.

Latitudes are the geographic coordinates that run east-west, lying as lines parallel to the equator. They measure distance north or south of the equator, starting at 0° at the equator and increasing toward the poles, with positive values to the north and negative values to the south. This is exactly the pattern described: lines that run parallel to the equator and use north as positive and south as negative. Longitudes, by contrast, run north-south and measure east or west from the Prime Meridian. Solar Day and Local Mean Time are time concepts, not geographic coordinates. So the described coordinate is latitude.