The Universe (Part-5)

Total Questions: 52

1. A ship is moving from the eastern side of Aleutian Islands towards Dutch Harbour. It crosses 180º meridian on 1st January 1999 at 23:30 hr. What time and date will be recorded by the captain of the ship in his diary after one-hour journey from the point of crossing of the meridian? [I.A.S. (Pre) 1999]

Correct Answer: (b) January 2, 00:30 hr
Solution:Aleutian Island's eastern end lies at the West of 180° Meridian, (172° East longitude) while Dutch Harbour lies at East side of 180º Meridian i.e at (166°31'55" West longitude). As the movement of the ship from West to East of 180 Meridian, the date will lag behind by 1 day.

So, on 23:30 hr. January 1999 crossing 180 Meridian by rule the date should be 31 December 1998 and after 1 hour (23.30+60=2400+ 30) captain of the ship will record 00:30 hr. 1 January, 1999, But actually, the International Date Line does not completely follow the 180 Meridian to avoid segregating the places with equal political and the economic entity (including Aleutian Islands and Dutch Harbour).

In the content of this situation International Date Line is even not crossed by the ship and the day will be same even after 1 hour captain of the ship will record 00:30 hr. 2 January, 1999.

2. Captain of a ship moving Westward records the local time of 10-00 hrs Monday at 90° W. If the speed of the ship is the same as the speed of the rotation of the earth, which of the following local time and day would be found by the captain at International date line: [U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2000]

Correct Answer: (b) 10.00 Monday
Solution:Captain of the ship travelling westward recorded the local time 10:00 hour at 90° west Meridian, this means that the ship is near the North America continent.

Since the Earth rotates from West to East on its axis (Anticlockwise) and the ship is moving towards West with the speed equivalent to Earth's rotation therefore, both are moving in the opposite direction but there no effect of Earth's rotation upon the movement of objects upon its surface.

So, for the ship covering 90º meridian require the time of 6 hrs and the ship will be behind 6 hrs according to local time. Therefore, when reaching at the International Date Line he will write the local time as the same 10:00 hrs Monday, However, when he crosses International Date Line his local time will be 10:00 hours Tuesday.

3. Which path must be followed by a Ship to move from one place to another in the least time ? [U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 1992]

Correct Answer: (c) Meridian
Solution:For a ship to travel in the least possible time from one place to another, it must travel with respect of Meridian. At 180° meridian travelling from east to west, it gets one day less in this way while in moving from west to east one day increases.

4. The local time of a place is 6:00 AM when the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is 3:00 AM, what is the longitude of the place? [Uttarakhand P.C.S. (Pre) 2010, U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2006]

Correct Answer: (b) 45° East
Solution:Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T.) is referred to Co-ordinated Universal Time (U.T.C.). International time is calculated from the Greenwich at 0º Meridian, and the time eastward of it is ahead and time westward of it is behind (Although dates are measured from 180º meridian at International Date Line which passes through the mid of Pacific Ocean).

Meridians situated 180° east of Greenwich is called East-meridian and meridian situated at 180º west is known as West-meridian. All the meridian in 360° of the globe is divided into 24 time zones (150-15°Meridian difference).

Therefore, in each time zone has 1 hour time difference and each meridian has the difference of 4 minutes, moving each meridian east G.M.T. time is 4 minutes ahead and moving west of G.M.T. time remains 4 minutes behind for each meridian.

According to question time is to be calculated for that place which is ahead (6-3-3 hrs) of Greenwich. As we know for 1 hr difference on longitude (meridian) is 15º therefore for 3 hrs the difference a will be 15 x 3 = 45°, So that place will lie at 45º east of Greenwich.

5. What is the local time of Thimphu (Bhutan) located at 90° East longitude when the time at Greenwich (0°) is 12:00 noon: [69th B.P.S.C. (Pre), 2023]

Correct Answer: (a) 6:00 p.m.
Solution:Difference between Greenwich and Thimpu (Bhutan) = 90° of longitudes Total time difference = 90 × 4 = 360 minute .. The time increases at a rate of 4 minutes per one degre of longitude. = 360/60 hour = 6 hour 13 = 6 hours / Local time of Thimpu is 6 hours more than that at Greenwich i.e. 6.00 p.m.

6. Which one of the following is not a natural unit of time? [Uttarakhand P.C.S. (Pre) 2016]

Correct Answer: (c) Standard time
Solution:According to the question, the standard time has been artificially determined from the given alternatives. For example, the 0º longitude line has been determined as the prime meridian. Similarly, the 82- East longitude line has been set 2 as the standard Time of India, while the tropical year, the lunar month and the day are the natural units of time.

7. The total length of Earth's equator is about - [Uttarakhand P.C.S. (Pre) 2010]

Correct Answer: (c) 40,000 km
Solution:The equator usually refers to an imaginary line, on the Earth surface at equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole, dividing the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere.

The total length of the Equator is 40090 km length (approximately 24,911 miles). 78.7% of the line passes through water while 21.3% passes through land. Therefore, option (c) can be taken as the correct answer.

8. Through which, one of the following groups of countries does the Equator pass? [I.A.S. (Pre) 2006]

Correct Answer: (b) Colombia, Kenya and Indonesia
Solution:Equator passes through 13 countries which are as follows:

(1) Brazil

(2) Colombia

(3) Democratic Republic of the Congo

(4) Ecuador

(5) Gabon

(6) Indonesia

(7) Kenya

(8) Kiribati

(9) Republic of the Congo

(10) Sao Tome and Principe

(11) Somalia

(12) Uganda

(13) Maldives

From the above list, it is now clear that the Equator passes through Colombia, Kenya and Indonesia. Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

9. The equator does not pass through which of the following countries? [Uttarakhand P.C.S. (Pre) 2021]

Correct Answer: (b) Mexico
Solution:Equator passes through 13 countries which are as follows:

(1) Brazil

(2) Colombia

(3) Democratic Republic of the Congo

(4) Ecuador

(5) Gabon

(6) Indonesia

(7) Kenya

(8) Kiribati

(9) Republic of the Congo

(10) Sao Tome and Principe

(11) Somalia

(12) Uganda

(13) Maldives

From the above list, it is now clear that the Equator passes through Colombia, Kenya and Indonesia. Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

10. The equator does NOT pass through which of the following Countries? [U.P. P.C.S. (Pre) 2020]

1. Gabon

2. Somalia

3. Equatorial Guinea

4. Rawanda

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Codes:

Correct Answer: (d) 3 and 4
Solution:Equator passes through 13 countries which are as follows:

(1) Brazil

(2) Colombia

(3) Democratic Republic of the Congo

(4) Ecuador

(5) Gabon

(6) Indonesia

(7) Kenya

(8) Kiribati

(9) Republic of the Congo

(10) Sao Tome and Principe

(11) Somalia

(12) Uganda

(13) Maldives

From the above list, it is now clear that the Equator passes through Colombia, Kenya and Indonesia. Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.