Which one of the following latitudes will experience a minimum angle of the Sun's rays when it is Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere?
- (a)Arctic Circle
- (b)Equator
- (c)Tropic of Cancer
- (d)Tropic of Capricorn
Correct — D, Tropic of Capricorn. At the June (Northern) solstice the Sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N), so the noon Sun's angle at any place equals 90° minus its angular distance from 23.5°N. That gives about 90° at the Tropic of Cancer, 66.5° at the Equator, 47° at the Arctic Circle and only 43° at the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5°S) — which lies 47° away from the overhead point and so receives the lowest, most slanting rays of the four.
- (a)Arctic Circle — At the June solstice the Arctic Circle (66.5°N) tilts toward the Sun and even has 24-hour daylight; its noon Sun stands about 47° high — low, but still higher than the Tropic of Capricorn's 43°.
- (b)Equator — The Equator lies 23.5° from the overhead point, so its noon Sun is about 66.5° — a fairly high angle, not the minimum.
- (c)Tropic of Cancer — This is the latitude where the Sun is directly overhead on 21 June, giving the maximum noon angle of 90° — the exact opposite of what the question asks.
The height of the noon Sun above the horizon depends on how far a latitude is from the point where the Sun is directly overhead (the subsolar point). The noon Sun's altitude equals 90° minus the angular distance between the place and the subsolar latitude, so places farther from the overhead Sun get more slanting (lower-angle) rays.
On 21 June the subsolar point is at the Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N). Rank each option by how many degrees it sits from 23.5°N: the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5°S is a full 47° away, the largest gap of the four, which is why its rays are the most slanting and its Sun angle the smallest.
- The June solstice (about 21 June) has the Sun overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, 23.5°N.
- Noon Sun altitude equals 90° minus the angular distance from the subsolar latitude.
- On 21 June the noon Sun is roughly 43° high at the Tropic of Capricorn versus 90° at the Tropic of Cancer.
- At the December solstice the situation reverses, with the Sun overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn.
The Tropic of Capricorn is 47° from the overhead Sun, the farthest of the four, so it gets the minimum angle.
- The subsolar point at the June solstice is the Tropic of Cancer, not the Equator.
- 'Minimum angle' means the lowest, most slanting Sun — the latitude farthest from the overhead point, not nearest.
Solstice geometry is asked as a rank-the-Sun-angle item, with the overhead-Sun latitude planted as the tempting maximum-angle trap.
On June 21 every year, which of the following latitude(s) experience(s) sunlight of more than 12 hours? 1. Equator 2. Tropic of Cancer 3. Tropic of Capricorn 4. Arctic Circle. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (b) 1 and 3 only
- (c) 3 and 4 only
- (d) 2 and 4 only
Answer(d) 2 and 4 only
Same Sun-Earth geometry at the June solstice. Because the subsolar point sits at the Tropic of Cancer on 21 June, the northern latitudes (Tropic of Cancer, Arctic Circle) get their longest day while the southern Tropic of Capricorn is tilted away — the very reason it also receives the shallowest noon Sun in this NDA question.
- practice — not a real PYQ
On 22 December, at which latitude is the noon Sun directly overhead?
- (a)Equator
- (b)Tropic of Cancer
- (c)Tropic of Capricorn
- (d)Arctic Circle
Answer(c) Tropic of Capricorn — the December solstice has the Sun overhead at 23.5°S.
- practice — not a real PYQ
On either equinox, the noon Sun is directly overhead at the
- (a)Equator
- (b)Tropic of Cancer
- (c)North Pole
- (d)Arctic Circle
Answer(a) Equator — at the equinoxes the subsolar point is on the Equator, giving nearly equal day and night worldwide.