I was taught this a while back...Assuming the world is a perfect ellipse with the longer access running north to south longitudes are all of equal length (if you stretch them out into a straight line), while latitiudes will decrease in length as you move away from the equator. Therefore LONGitudes are LONGer than latitudes and go the LONG way around the earth. This works if you think the earth is a sphere as well. The LONGitude lines are still LONGer than the latitude lines if your anywhere other than the equator. Since you have now figured out which way the lines run, if you put them on a graph, the distance between them will be measured on the X axis.
Cameron "Bendall,A EPO" wrote: > I've heard of a way to remember Port & Starboard (for me). > > Starboard derives from a Scandinavian word for steering board. > Most people are right-handed, so tend to steer or row on the right side > of their bodies. > Imagine yourself rowing with one paddle. Which side is it on? > Hence starboard is to the right. > > Can anybody help me visualise (=remember) the difference between lat & > long? > > From: John Haynes [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > > > Your "maybe" is probably a "probably". No can do good longitude before > you > invent a portable time piece. > > Latitude was the more accurate until they were able to make a chronometer > that went "tick-tock" instead of "tock-tick". > > However, my chronic failure to differentiate between the two recently > resulted in my shipping over a million records with the X and Y reversed > > Reminded me of the story about the old Sea Captain who was seen by his > First > Mate to open a locked drawer each morning, remove and study a small piece > of > paper, return it and lock the drawer. When the Captain died during a sea > voyage, one of the first things the Mate did was take the Captain's key > and > open the drawer. > > The paper read, "Port is Left. Starboard is Right". > > ********************************************************************* > This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and > intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they > are addressed. > > If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please advise the sender immediately > by using the reply facility in your e-mail software. > Please also destroy and delete the message from your computer. > > Any modification of the contents of this e-mail is strictly prohibited > unless expressly authorised by the sender. > ********************************************************************* > > _______________________________________________________________________ > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > To unsubscribe, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and > put "unsubscribe MapInfo-L" in the message body. _______________________________________________________________________ List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "unsubscribe MapInfo-L" in the message body.
