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Multiple Choice

Maximum error of area of Lambert Conformal Conic?

Lambert Conformal Conic preserves shapes locally (angles) but not areas. It uses two standard parallels to keep distortion small over a mid‑latitude region, so the map scale is true along those parallels, while away from them the scale changes and areas become stretched or compressed. The area distortion reaches its maximum somewhere between the standard parallels and toward the edges of the map. For typical mid-latitude applications, this maximum area error is about 7 percent. That’s why 7 (percent) is the best answer here: it represents the worst-case percentage difference between map area and true area for this projection in common use.

Lambert Conformal Conic preserves shapes locally (angles) but not areas. It uses two standard parallels to keep distortion small over a mid‑latitude region, so the map scale is true along those parallels, while away from them the scale changes and areas become stretched or compressed.

The area distortion reaches its maximum somewhere between the standard parallels and toward the edges of the map. For typical mid-latitude applications, this maximum area error is about 7 percent. That’s why 7 (percent) is the best answer here: it represents the worst-case percentage difference between map area and true area for this projection in common use.