I can never get Lat and Long straight?

Question

Which is which?
what is an easy tip to remember which is which?

Answer 1

Try this:

Latitude or Lat - associate with lateral. Lateral is always associated with side to side movement, so latitude (or lat = lateral) are the grid lines that run east/west when associated with navigation.

Longitude or Long - associate with... whatever you want. If you can remember latitude then longitude is always the gridlines that run north/south when associated with navigation.

If your not used to navigational terms in relation to the earth (for orientation purposes) then think of how you would view the earth from far away. The North Pole is always on top and the South Pole is always on the bottom (up/down respectively). The equator is always a straight, horizontal line from east to west (sideways (or side to side).

Longitude = up/down (North/South)
Latitude = sideways or side to side (East/West)

Got it?

One more thing (this should really bake your cookie)... Longitude is always expressed in time (from a relative time or prime meridian) and degrees (from a relative position or meridian of a place).
Latitude is always expressed in degrees (north or south) from the equator (from relative point or meridian).

Can we say "confused"?

Answer 2

When looking at a map, latitude lines run horizontally. Latitude lines are also known as parallels since they are parallel and are an equal distant from each other. Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km) apart; there is a variation due to the fact that the earth is not a perfect sphere but an oblate ellipsoid (slightly egg-shaped). To remember latitude, imagine them as the horizontal rungs of a ladder ("ladder-tude"). Degrees latitude are numbered from 0° to 90° north and south. Zero degrees is the equator, the imaginary line which divides our planet into the northern and southern hemispheres. 90° north is the North Pole and 90° south is the South Pole.

The vertical longitude lines are also known as meridians. They converge at the poles and are widest at the equator (about 69 miles or 111 km apart). Zero degrees longitude is located at Greenwich, England (0°). The degrees continue 180° east and 180° west where they meet and form the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. Greenwich, the site of the British Royal Greenwich Observatory, was established as the site of the Prime Meridian by an international conference in 1884.

To precisely locate points on the earth's surface, degrees longitude and latitude have been divided into minutes (') and seconds ("). There are 60 minutes in each degree. Each minute is divided into 60 seconds. Seconds can be further divided into tenths, hundredths, or even thousandths. For example, the U.S. Capitol is located at 38°53'23"N , 77°00'27"W (38 degrees, 53 minutes, and 23 seconds north of the equator and 77 degrees, no minutes and 27 seconds west of the meridian passing through Greenwich, England).

To locate the latitude and longitude of a specific place on earth, see my Locate Places
http://geography.about.com/cs/latitudelongitude/a/latlong.htm

Answer 3

A tip I once heard in school is that Lat sounds like the beginning of Ladder, which, when regarding the globe in an up and down position, is the form that lattitudinal lines take.

Answer 4

Easy.

Think "ladder." The rungs are horizontal, so just picture a bunch of ladders going up and down the globe. The horizontal lines are the latitude. Also, lateral means "side," so latitude goes side-to-side, not up-and-down.

One final tip is to remember that longitudinal line are all "long," all the same length. They circle the whole Earth, from pole to pole, whereas circles of latitude are smaller near the poles, and the largest is the equator.

I hope this helps!

Answer 5

Longitude runs from pole to pole, so that all of the markers are long and the same length. Latitude is more like the slats on a ladder that taper from top to bottom. The equator is the longest marker of latitude and the gett smaller and smaller as they approach the poles. Just remember that all LONGitude lines are long. And that latitude tapers like some sLATs.

Answer 6

Lat=fat lat goes around the globe i think

Answer 7

Lat = FAT.

Fat people are wide, like latitudes on a globe. And tall people are long, like longitudes.

Answer 8

I always had trouble with that too, until I remembered this simple rule.

Lat rhymes with flat
longitude is long and goes up and down, the opposite of being 'flat'.

And that is that :)

Answer 9

Lat = flat

Latitude is parallel to the equator, longitude is from pole to pole

Answer 10

Lattitude - sounds like a ladder, which has rungs that you climb - so lat lines runs east and west.