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The circumference of the earth is very nearly equal to 40,000 km. In the meridional direction ie north-south it is almost exact, so the distance from equator to pole (north or south) is 10,000 km. In fact that is the definition that was adopted for the meter originally, though now we have a standard meter which is very slightly different to 1/10000 of the equator to pole distance.

For your purpose take it as 10,000 km. Then in terms of latitude, this is divided into 90 degrees each degree having 60 minutes, each minute having 60 seconds. So the total number of seconds of latitude is 90 x 60 x60 = 324,000. so 1 second of latitude will be 10,000/324,000 km, or 10/324 km. Putting this into meters we get 10,000/324 meters,

which comes to 30.86 meters.

So 1 second of latitude = 30.86 meters, or in feet = 101.2 ft.

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Wiki User

17y ago

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More answers

All longitudes converge at the north and south poles, so the distance represented

by any change in longitude depends on where you are with respect to the equator

and the poles.

One second of longitude corresponds to 101.36 feet along the equator, and

zero distance at the poles.

In between, it's

(101.36 feet) x cosine (your latitude)

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Wiki User

13y ago
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One second of latitude is equal to approximately 30.9 meters (101.4 feet) on Earth's surface.

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AnswerBot

11mo ago
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how much distance on earth's surface does one second of latitude equal?

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Wiki User

16y ago
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Although it varies slightly depending on your Latitude one second is right around 101 ft.

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Wiki User

15y ago
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It works out to 101.16 feet. In the field, we use the rule of thumb of 100 ft.

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Wiki User

13y ago
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Approximately 101.4 feet.

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Wiki User

13y ago
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wow

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Anonymous

4y ago
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Q: How much distance on earth's surface does one second of latitude equal?
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