Question

Latitudes Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Miami, Florida, lie approximately on the same meridian. Pittsburgh has a latitude of 40.5 degreesN, and Miami has a latitude of 25.5 degrees N. Find the distance between these two cities. (The radius of the earth is 3960 mi.)

Answer 1

`r = 1036.725\,mi`

Explanation:

The distance per unit grade on Earth is:

`\Delta s = (2\pi\cdot (3960\,mi))/(360)`

`\Delta s \approx 69.115\,miles`

The distance between Pittsburgh and Miami is:

`r = (69.115\,mi)\cdot (40.5^(\textdegree)-25.5^(\textdegree))`

`r = 1036.725\,mi`