Determine in kilometers: a) the width of the Atlantic Ocean at the equator; b) the distance between Africa

Determine in kilometers: a) the width of the Atlantic Ocean at the equator; b) the distance between Africa and Australia at 20 ° S latitude. (arc length 1 ° along the equator 111.3 km, 20 ° – 104.6 km).

a) First, we need to determine the total number of degrees between the extreme points of the Atlantic Ocean at equatorial latitude.

This value is approximately equal to 60 degrees.

By condition, we know that in 1 degree – 111.3 km, in this case we get:

60 * 111.3 = 6678 km.

b) For a given latitude, the distance in degrees between Africa and Australia is approximately 87 degrees.

We multiply this value by the known value from the condition and get:

87 * 104.6 = 9100.2 km.