USCG Exam PracticePlot true course and distance between two charted points
On a Mercator projection chart, a rhumb line between two charted points appears as which of the following?
- A. A curved arc bending toward the nearest pole
- ✓ A straight line crossing all meridians at the same angleCorrect
- C. A great circle route between the two points
- D. A wavy line that varies with the scale of the chart
Why B is correct
On a Mercator projection, rhumb lines (lines of constant bearing) appear as straight lines because both latitude and longitude lines are projected as straight lines crossing at right angles. Bowditch Ch. 4 §402 states this explicitly.
Cited:Bowditch Ch. 4 §402