Absolute vs. Relative Location
What is the difference between absolute location and relative location?
Goal:
Goal:
Location can be described in two ways, relative and absolute. If you are talking to someone about places, and you say Columbus, Ohio, is west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, you are talking about the relative location of Columbus in relation to Pittsburgh.
Cassiopeia sweet [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
But if you said Columbus is 39.9612° N, 82.9988° W, you am referring to its absolute location, or where it is exactly in the world.
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To review:
Absolute location is the exact location of a place using latitude and longitude coordinates.
Relative location is the relationship of a place to other places.
When people talk about places, they usually use a place's relative location. For example, California is south of Washington, or the grocery store is east of the mall. But if you truly want to talk about a place's exact location on Earth, you use the latitude and longitude coordinates.
Absolute or Relative?
Read the sentences below and decide if they are describing an absolute location or a relative location.
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The movie theater is four blocks east of the bank. 
relative location The rest area is two miles away. 
relative location Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is 28.3852° N, 81.5639° W. 
absolute location |
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