Why is there 12 hours of daylight all year at Quito?
I think it's because it's on the equator, but I don't really get it
You're right.
The way the earth tilts, the sun appears to be farthest north when it's over the Tropic of Cancer. It's seen as farthest south when it's over the Tropic of Capricorn. This means that the sun appears near or over the Equator all year long.
I used to demonstrate this to my classes by using a flashlight to represent the sun and approximating the tilt of the earth with a globe.
This site has more information.
http://geography.about.com/library/misc/blequator.htm
Thank you very much. This has helped me with other questions too.
You're very welcome.
You are correct! The reason why Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, experiences approximately 12 hours of daylight throughout the year is because it is located very close to the equator. Allow me to explain further.
The Earth is tilted on its axis, which causes the changing seasons and varying lengths of daylight throughout the year. However, places near the equator, like Quito, experience less variation in daylight hours because they are situated perpendicularly to the axis of rotation.
Here's one way to visualize it: Imagine the Earth as a sphere, and draw a line across the middle, representing the equator. Now, imagine a flashlight shining directly down on the equator. Since Quito is positioned so close to the equator, it would receive an equal amount of light from the flashlight throughout the year. This results in roughly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness each day.
In contrast, locations farther away from the equator, such as the poles, experience more significant variations in daylight hours. During certain seasons, they may have extended periods of daylight or darkness due to the Earth's tilt.
So, in summary, Quito's proximity to the equator allows it to receive approximately equal amounts of daylight throughout the year, resulting in about 12 hours of daylight each day.