🔍 Key Concepts

• Mercator projection and how it handles latitude lines • What happens to the scale on a Mercator chart as you approach the poles • Which parts of the earth become infinitely ‘stretched’ in this projection

💭 Think About

• Think about where the parallels of latitude would have to be drawn if the distance between them keeps increasing toward the poles. • Consider whether a Mercator chart can ever actually reach 90° North or South latitude on the paper. • Ask yourself which of the listed choices describes a place where the projection would mathematically ‘break down’ or become impossible to draw.

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which option involves extreme latitudes where distortion becomes infinite. • Confirm that the equator is normally well represented on Mercator charts. • Check whether a ‘narrow band along the central meridian’ is really a limitation of Mercator, or if that sounds more like another type of projection.