If a place is located at 120°W longitude, what is its time offset from UTC?

Practice Questions

Q1
If a place is located at 120°W longitude, what is its time offset from UTC?
  1. UTC-8
  2. UTC-7
  3. UTC-6
  4. UTC-5

Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions

If a place is located at 120°W longitude, what is its time offset from UTC?
  • Step 1: Understand that longitude lines measure how far east or west a place is from the Prime Meridian, which is at 0° longitude.
  • Step 2: Know that the Earth is divided into 360 degrees of longitude.
  • Step 3: Realize that the Earth rotates once every 24 hours.
  • Step 4: Calculate how many degrees of longitude correspond to one hour of time. This is done by dividing 360 degrees by 24 hours, which equals 15 degrees per hour.
  • Step 5: Since 120°W is west of the Prime Meridian, it is considered a negative offset from UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
  • Step 6: Divide 120° by 15° to find out how many hours behind UTC it is. 120° ÷ 15° = 8 hours.
  • Step 7: Conclude that a location at 120°W longitude has a time offset of UTC-8.
  • Longitude and Time Zones – Understanding how longitude affects time zones, where each 15° of longitude corresponds to a one-hour difference from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
  • UTC Offset Calculation – Calculating the time offset from UTC based on the given longitude, specifically how to convert degrees to hours.
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