Which projection is used when meridians are equally spaced but parallels increase as they go farther from the equator?

• A. Mercator Projection
• B. Transverse Mercator
• C. Sinusoidal
• D. Lambert Conformal Projection

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that in this projection the grid geometry is unique: meridians become evenly spaced vertical lines, while parallels spread farther apart as you move away from the equator. This happens because the latitude is transformed into the vertical coordinate through a logarithmic-like function, which grows more rapidly the farther you get from the equator. So you see equal spacing of longitude lines, but the spacing between latitude lines increases toward the poles. This combination is what gives it the name Mercator and is exactly why navigation finds it convenient—angles are preserved locally and constant bearings map to straight lines—though areas become increasingly distorted away from the equator. The other projections don’t produce that specific pattern of equally spaced meridians with parallels that widen with distance from the equator.