Question

Convert 59° 21' 32'' to decimal.
a) 59.3589
b) 59.5256
c) 59.4756
d) 59.8754

Answer 1

To convert 59° 21' 32'' to decimal degrees, seconds are divided by 60 and added to minutes, which are then divided by 60 and added to whole degrees. The result is approximately 59.3589, which is answer (a).

Step-by-step explanation:

To convert 59° 21' 32'' to a decimal degree, we must convert the minutes and seconds to a decimal fraction of a degree. There are 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a minute.

First, convert the seconds by dividing by 60: 32 seconds is 32/60 minutes, or approximately 0.5333 minutes. Then, add this to the 21 minutes already present: 21 + 0.5333 = 21.5333 minutes.

Now convert the minutes to degrees by dividing by 60: 21.5333 minutes is 21.5333/60 degrees, or approximately 0.3589 degrees. Finally, add this to the 59 degrees: 59 + 0.3589 = 59.3589 degrees.

So, 59° 21' 32'' converts to approximately 59.3589 decimal degrees, which means the correct answer is option (a) 59.3589.