SDSU Oceanography 100 Lab Practical Exam - Latest
2025/2026 Edition Questions and Answers
Section 1: Coordinates and Mapping (Questions 1-30)
1. What is latitude?
A: One's north-south position, with the equator at 0 degrees and poles at 90 degrees N/S.
2. What is longitude?
A: One's east-west position, with the Prime Meridian at 0 degrees and the International Date
Line at 180 degrees.
3. True or False: The Equator is a line of longitude.
A: False (it's latitude).
4. What device is used to measure latitude by sighting stars?
A: Sextant.
5. How do you calculate longitude using a chronometer?
A: Earth rotates 15 degrees per hour; multiply hours difference from UTC by 15 to find degrees
east/west.
6. In a Mercator projection, how are high-latitude areas affected?
A: They are exaggerated and appear larger than they are.
7. What causes seasonal variations in sunlight?
, A: Earth's 23.5-degree axial tilt, leading to solstices and equinoxes.
8. When is summer in the Northern Hemisphere?
A: June to September (opposite in Southern Hemisphere).
9. Identify the coordinates: Equator is ___ latitude, Prime Meridian is ___ longitude.
A: 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude.
10. True or False: Longitude lines are parallel.
A: False (they converge at the poles).
11. What is the approximate date of the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere?
A: June 21.
12. How do you find latitude using the North Star?
A: The angle above the horizon equals your latitude.
13. What is the International Date Line?
A: 180 degrees longitude, opposite the Prime Meridian.
14. In mapping, what is a great circle?
A: A circle dividing the Earth in half, like the Equator.
15. What is a small circle on a map?
A: A circle whose center is not the Earth's center, like parallels of latitude (except Equator).
, 16. True or False: San Diego is at approximately 32.7°N, 117.2°W.
A: True.
17. How many degrees are there between the Equator and the North Pole?
A: 90 degrees.
18. What reference point divides the Earth into Eastern and Western Hemispheres?
A: Prime Meridian.
19. Calculate latitude if a sextant measures the North Star at 45 degrees above the horizon.
A: 45°N.
20. Why do seasons in the hemispheres oppose each other?
A: Due to Earth's tilt directing sunlight unevenly.
21. What map projection distorts polar regions?
A: Mercator.
22. True or False: Longitude is measured in degrees north or south.
A: False (east or west).
23. What is the Tropic of Cancer?
A: 23.5°N latitude, northernmost point for direct overhead sun.
24. How do you determine if you are west of the Prime Meridian using time?
A: If local time is earlier than UTC.
2025/2026 Edition Questions and Answers
Section 1: Coordinates and Mapping (Questions 1-30)
1. What is latitude?
A: One's north-south position, with the equator at 0 degrees and poles at 90 degrees N/S.
2. What is longitude?
A: One's east-west position, with the Prime Meridian at 0 degrees and the International Date
Line at 180 degrees.
3. True or False: The Equator is a line of longitude.
A: False (it's latitude).
4. What device is used to measure latitude by sighting stars?
A: Sextant.
5. How do you calculate longitude using a chronometer?
A: Earth rotates 15 degrees per hour; multiply hours difference from UTC by 15 to find degrees
east/west.
6. In a Mercator projection, how are high-latitude areas affected?
A: They are exaggerated and appear larger than they are.
7. What causes seasonal variations in sunlight?
, A: Earth's 23.5-degree axial tilt, leading to solstices and equinoxes.
8. When is summer in the Northern Hemisphere?
A: June to September (opposite in Southern Hemisphere).
9. Identify the coordinates: Equator is ___ latitude, Prime Meridian is ___ longitude.
A: 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude.
10. True or False: Longitude lines are parallel.
A: False (they converge at the poles).
11. What is the approximate date of the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere?
A: June 21.
12. How do you find latitude using the North Star?
A: The angle above the horizon equals your latitude.
13. What is the International Date Line?
A: 180 degrees longitude, opposite the Prime Meridian.
14. In mapping, what is a great circle?
A: A circle dividing the Earth in half, like the Equator.
15. What is a small circle on a map?
A: A circle whose center is not the Earth's center, like parallels of latitude (except Equator).
, 16. True or False: San Diego is at approximately 32.7°N, 117.2°W.
A: True.
17. How many degrees are there between the Equator and the North Pole?
A: 90 degrees.
18. What reference point divides the Earth into Eastern and Western Hemispheres?
A: Prime Meridian.
19. Calculate latitude if a sextant measures the North Star at 45 degrees above the horizon.
A: 45°N.
20. Why do seasons in the hemispheres oppose each other?
A: Due to Earth's tilt directing sunlight unevenly.
21. What map projection distorts polar regions?
A: Mercator.
22. True or False: Longitude is measured in degrees north or south.
A: False (east or west).
23. What is the Tropic of Cancer?
A: 23.5°N latitude, northernmost point for direct overhead sun.
24. How do you determine if you are west of the Prime Meridian using time?
A: If local time is earlier than UTC.
