Name: Ronah Mae Manginlaud

Section & Year: BSITM 1YB-3

HOW A GLOBE CAN GRAPHICALLY REPRESENT THE EARTH'S SURFACE

A globe is the most accurate way to graphically represent Earth's curved surface.
With its spherical shape, it represents the Earth's surface more faithfully than the
planisphere. Because world maps are drawn on a flat surface, they cannot show
Earth's curved surface without significant distortions. Globes help to counter that
problem. A globe is a spherical representation of a planet's surface or another
large area. It is usually mounted on an axle that allows for rotation. A globe is a
three-dimensional scale model of the Earth being the only geographical
representation that can show a planet without distortion because of its rounded
shape. Earth—as well as most other planets—is not a perfect sphere but bulges
a bit at the Equator. Globes usually have a geographic coordinate system and a
scale. Therefore, the shortest distance between two points on a globe is the
length of the portion of a circle that connects them. A globe shows the distribution
of land and water on the surface of the planet earth. It represents the shape, size,
and location of the oceans and continents. It is a three-dimensional sphere that
acts as a model of the earth.

In other words, globes can help people plan long-distance travel routes. If a
person pulls a string between two cities on its curved surface, the string will
follow the shortest path, called a great circle route. On such a route, airplanes
from the United States to Europe fly north-northeast rather than straight east,
though on a map it is easy to plot—mistakenly—the eastern route. Further, it is
mounted on an axis, on which it can rotate freely. The oceans and continents are
represented over the surface of the globe with different colors. The horizontal and
vertical lines are drawn over the globe, in order to find the exact location of a
place.