Subjects geography

Sunrise Time Difference

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Sunrise Time Difference


1. **Problem statement:** Madrid and New York City share the same latitude but have different longitudes: Madrid at 4° West and New York City at 74° West. We want to find how many hours and minutes later sunrise occurs in New York compared to Madrid. 2. **Formula and concept:** The Earth rotates 360° in 24 hours. Therefore, the time difference between two locations can be calculated by the difference in their longitudes divided by the rotation rate of the Earth. 3. **Calculate longitude difference:** $$\text{Longitude difference} = 74^\circ - 4^\circ = 70^\circ$$ 4. **Calculate time difference:** The Earth rotates 360° in 24 hours, so the rotation rate is: $$\frac{360^\circ}{24 \text{ hours}} = 15^\circ \text{ per hour}$$ Time difference is: $$\frac{70^\circ}{15^\circ/\text{hour}} = \frac{70}{15} = 4.6667 \text{ hours}$$ 5. **Convert decimal hours to hours and minutes:** $$0.6667 \text{ hours} \times 60 \text{ minutes/hour} = 40 \text{ minutes}$$ So, the time difference is approximately 4 hours and 40 minutes. 6. **Interpretation:** Sunrise in New York occurs about 4 hours and 40 minutes later than in Madrid. **Final answer:** 4 hr 40 min