Earth map and globe map!
Imagine you place two different points, A and B, on a plane. What is the route to go from A to B without changing direction? And what is the route of minimum length to go from A to B? You know that both questions have the same answer: the straight segment AB. But this happens because these routes are on a flat surface. If A and B are on a spherical surface, the answer is no longer the same.
RHUMB LINE. This construction will help you interpret distances on a map. A rhumb line connects the two poles (or a circle if the points have the same latitude or longitude).
On the terrestrial globe in the construction, there are two points, one orange and one green. The points of the same color on the Mercator map are their projections. You can choose the position of both points. If you want precision when using the sliders, use the arrow keys on your keyboard. There are six interconnected modes to choose the position:
- Enter their coordinates with the lower (E-W longitude) and right (N-S latitude) slider. Keep in mind that some latitudes may fall outside the limits of the Mercator map. To get the coordinates of a specific location, search for it on Google maps
- Move the upper slider, which scrolls through a list of cities ordered by country. The point will occupy the position of the chosen city.
- Move the point directly on the earth globe. Use the longitude and latitude sliders to fine-tune the precision. To rotate the entire globe, drag it with the right-click (if you release the mouse button before stopping the drag, the globe will enter automatic animation).
- Move the point directly on the Mercator map. Use the longitude and latitude sliders to fine-tune the precision.
- By directly moving either of the points, either on the globe or on the map, the corresponding text will display the nearest population from the list of cities. Click on that text to choose that city.
- Activate one of the three checkboxes with predefined routes. In this case, the information for the country and precise location will appear.