{"id":23785,"date":"2025-11-03T09:35:47","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T17:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocurrents.info\/?p=23785"},"modified":"2025-11-03T09:35:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T17:35:47","slug":"the-geometrical-relationship-between-latitude-and-sun-angles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocurrents.info\/blog\/2025\/11\/03\/the-geometrical-relationship-between-latitude-and-sun-angles\/","title":{"rendered":"The Geometrical Relationship Between Latitude and Sun Angles"},"content":{"rendered":"

(This post is part of a long GeoCurrents<\/em> series aimed at helping parents and teachers instruct students in basic geography. The material at the end of this post is most appropriate for students at the middle- and high-school levels.)<\/p>\n

Now that latitude and midday sun angles have been covered, it is time to show how the two concepts are related. The relationship is relatively simple. For any place on Earth, the sun angle at solar noon [1] is found by subtracting the angular distance of the latitude in question from the latitude at which the sun is directly overhead. On the equinoxes, for example, the midday sun is directly overhead at latitude 0\u00b0 (the Equator), which means that the sun angle there is 90\u00b0. At latitude 1\u00b0, it will be 89\u00b0, at latitude 10\u00b0 it will be 80\u00b0, at latitude 20\u00b0 it will be 70\u00b0, and so on.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>
Equinox Sun Angles and Latitude diagram<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Most sources give a more precise but also more complicated, and in my view less explanatory, formula. Here, for example, is how ChatGPT handles the issue:<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0Question: \u201cHow do you calculate the midday sun angle based on latitude?\u201d<\/p>\n

ChatGPT Answer: Here\u2019s the\u00a0basic formula:<\/p>\n

Step-by-step explanation:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Start with 90\u00b0\u00a0\u2014 this is the maximum possible angle (directly overhead).<\/li>\n
  2. Subtract the difference between your latitude and the solar declination.\n