Time difference: operations between longitudes

The time difference between two places is mainly due to geographical longitude, not latitude. However, I will explain how to calculate the time difference considering geographical longitude and I will also mention the relationship between latitude and solar time.

Time difference calculation

To calculate the time difference between two places, you need to know the geographical longitude of each place. Geographic longitude is measured in degrees, minutes and seconds, and is considered positive towards the east and negative towards the west.

The time difference is calculated as follows:

1. Convert the geographical longitude of each place to decimal degrees.
2. Subtract the geographic longitude of the reference location (usually Greenwich, England, which has a longitude of 0°) from the geographic longitude of the location you want to compare.
3. Divide the result by 15, since each degree of geographical longitude is equivalent to 1 hour of time difference.

Example:

Suppose you want to calculate the time difference between New York (longitude: 74° 0' 0" W) and Los Angeles (longitude: 118° 15' 0" W).

1. Convert geographic longitudes to decimal degrees:
- New York: -74.0°
- Los Angeles: -118.25°
2. Subtract the geographic longitude of Greenwich (0°) from the geographic longitude of each place:
- New York: -74.0° - 0° = -74.0°
- Los Angeles: -118.25° - 0° = -118.25°
3. Divide the result by 15:
- New York: -74.0° / 15 = -4.93 hours (approximately 5 hours behind Greenwich)
- Los Angeles: -118.25° / 15 = -7.88 hours (approximately 8 hours behind