Monday, February 26, 2007
International Dateline, Prime Meridian and Greenwich Meridian @ 6:39 AM
I think I need to clarify some matters on the International Dateline, Prime Meridian and Greenwich Meridian. First of all, the 0° longitude is not the international dateline, it is known as the prime meridian or Greenwich meridian. The 180° longitude line halfway across the world is the international dateline.Please note that only the express stream will be tested on this material.
The key confusion alot of you seems to have is how people loses and gain one day. A easy way to understand this part is that you must first accept that at the 180° longitude, people west of this line is a full day earlier than those on the east.
If you are going westwards from the prime meridian to the international dateline, you minus an hour for every 15° you travel westwards on the planet and add an hour for every 15° you travel eastwards on the planet.
Check up on this sites if you want find out more about the international dateline,
http://geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/idl.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Date_Line
http://www.answers.com/topic/international-date-line