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On June 21 every year, which of the following latitude(s) experience(s) a 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 :
Explanation
The correct answer is option D (2 and 4 - Tropic of Cancer and Arctic Circle).
At the equator, all days of the year have the same number of hours of light and dark[1], meaning it receives exactly 12 hours of sunlight on June 21, not more than 12 hours. Therefore, statement 1 is incorrect.
On June 21, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, and the rays of the sun fall directly on the Tropic of Cancer, and since a large[2] portion of the northern hemisphere is getting light from the sun, it is summer in the regions north of the equator[2]. The Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight for more than 12 hours in June[3], which means the Tropic of Cancer experiences more than 12 hours of sunlight. Therefore, statement 2 is correct.
The Tropic of Capricorn is in the southern hemisphere, which experiences winter during June 21, resulting in less than 12 hours of sunlight. Therefore, statement 3 is incorrect.
At the Arctic Circle, the Sun never 'sets' at mid-summer (21 June) and there is a complete 24-hour period of continuous daylight[4]. Therefore, statement 4 is correct.
Thus, both the Tropic of Cancer (2) and Arctic Circle (4) experience more than 12 hours of sunlight on June 21.
Sources- [1] https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/k-12-education/optical-phenomena/what-solstice
- [2] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 19: The Motions of The Earth and Their Effects > Summer Solstice > p. 252
- [3] Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 12: Earth, Moon, and the Sun > 12.2.2 Seasons on the Earth > p. 177
- [4] Certificate Physical and Human Geography , GC Leong (Oxford University press 3rd ed.) > Chapter 2: The Earth's Crust > The Earth's Revolution > p. 7
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Guest previewThis is a fundamental 'Earth Mechanics' question directly from Class 6 NCERT. It penalizes rote learning of dates without visualizing the tilt. If you cannot visualize the 'Circle of Illumination' relative to the axis, you lose easy marks. It is a test of pure conceptual clarity over information overload.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: Do locations on the Equator receive more than 12 hours of sunlight on June 21 every year?
- Statement 2: Do locations on the Tropic of Cancer (≈23.5° N) receive more than 12 hours of sunlight on June 21 every year?
- Statement 3: Do locations on the Tropic of Capricorn (≈23.5° S) receive more than 12 hours of sunlight on June 21 every year?
- Statement 4: Do locations on the Arctic Circle (≈66.5° N) receive more than 12 hours of sunlight on June 21 every year?
- States that the equator has the same number of hours of daylight and dark every day of the year.
- This directly implies the equator does not receive more than 12 hours of sunlight specifically on June 21.
- Explains that the Sun is directly overhead on the equator on the two equinoxes (March and September), not on the June 21 solstice.
- Implying June 21 is not a date when the equator gets extra daylight compared with its usual day length.
Explicit rule-like statement: 'On the equator, there is always 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness.'
A student could combine this rule with knowledge of Earth's tilt and the date of solstice to check if the equator's day length should change on June 21.
Describes the June 21 (summer solstice) geometry: northern hemisphere tilted toward the Sun and areas north of the equator receive more than 12 hours of daylight.
Use the solstice geometry to reason whether the equator, lying between hemispheres, would experience a notable increase above 12 hours on that date.
States that the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight for more than 12 hours in June and contrasts hemisphere-wide daylength changes with equatorial conditions.
Compare hemisphere-wide increases in daylength with the equator's purported constant 12-hour day to judge if equatorial locations would exceed 12 hours on June 21.
Explains that beyond the Arctic Circle there are 24-hour daylight conditions at mid‑summer, implying daylength varies with latitude during solstices.
Combine this latitude-dependent variation with a map showing the equator's latitude to infer whether equatorial daylength is expected to change on solstice dates.
School-style question noting two places on same longitude can have 'similar hours of daylight on 21 June', implying daylength depends on latitude and date.
A student could use the longitude/latitude idea plus a world map to compare equatorial locations with higher-latitude locations on June 21 to see if equatorial daylength differs from 12 hours.
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