USCG Exam PracticePlot true course and distance between two charted points
On a Mercator projection chart, rhumb lines appear as which of the following?
- A. Curved arcs converging toward the poles
- ✓ Straight linesCorrect
- C. Great circles
- D. Wavy lines that cross meridians at varying angles
Why B is correct
The Mercator projection presents rhumb lines (constant bearings) as straight lines. This is one of the defining properties of the Mercator projection used on standard nautical charts.
Cited:Bowditch Ch. 4 §402