To find the distance between the North Pole (latitude 90° north) and Springfield, Illinois (latitude 40° north), we can use the arc length formula in terms of degrees.
The arc length formula in terms of degrees is given by:
\text{{arc length}} = \left(\frac{{2\pi\text{{r}}}}{{360}}\right)\theta
where r is the radius of the sphere and θ is the central angle (in degrees).
Given that the radius of the Earth is 4000 miles and the latitudes of the two cities, we can substitute these values into the formula:
For the North Pole:
\text{{arc length}}_{\text{{North Pole}}} = \left(\frac{{2\pi\text{{(4000)}}}}{{360}}\right)(90) \approx 6,283.19 \text{{ miles}}
For Springfield, Illinois:
\text{{\text{arc length}}}_{\text{{\text{Springfield, Illinois}}}}=\left(\frac{{2\pi\text{{(4000)}}}}{{360}}\right)(40)\approx2,792.53\text{{\text{ miles}}}
To find the distance between the two cities, we subtract the arc length of Springfield, Illinois from the arc length of the North Pole:
\text{{Distance between the cities}} = \text{{arc length}}_{\text{{North Pole}}} - \text{{arc length}}_{\text{{Springfield, Illinois}}}
=6,283.19\text{{\text{ miles}}}-2,792.53\text{{\text{ miles}}}
=3490.66\text{{\text{ miles}}}
Answer: The distance between the North Pole and Springfield, Illinois is approximately 3490.66 miles.