Math 101: Map Problems

• Find a map whose longitudes and latitudes always have a perpendicular intersection. Answer the following questions:
  • What part of the world is this a map of?
  • Where is this map (eg third floor corridor of Clapp, etc)?
  • What type of projection is used on this map? The projections have technical names like "Gauss conformal projection", "bipolar oblique conic projection", etc. If we had more time we could investigate what each of these mean. Sometimes the type of projection is not given.)
  • Can you tell what advantages this map projection has? Can you tell what distortions have been introduced to make the latitudes and longitudes intersect perpendicularly?
• Find a map whose longitudes and latitutes do not always have a perpendicular intersection. (Look at the edges of the map.) Answer the above questions for this map as well.

Maps can be found on the walls in the third floor of Clapp, in classrooms, etc. These questions are much easier to answer if you have a map of a large portion of the world rather than a small one.

You may do this problem with another student, and hand in one paper.