Now compare the relative shapes of Greenland, North America, and South America from the globe (shows true shape) with those from the Mercator and Lambert projections. Is there distortion in terms of shape? If so, briefly explain how they are distorted.

Question

Examples of two cylindrical projections are presented in Figure 4.2, the Mercator projection (conformal, true-shape), and Figure 4.3, the Lambert projection (equivalent, equal-area). These two map projections— the Mercator and the Lambert—are simply being used to examine relative size and shape in each portrayal of Earth.
Trace around the outlines of the same continents and island as indicated above—North America, South America, and Greenland. You might want to mark and color code the tracings according to their source (Mercator or Lambert) for future reference. Use your tracings to answer the following questions. Keep in mind that these two sets of map outlines compared to the globe you used are not at the same scale: the distance measured along their respective equators will not be equal.

Mercator
Lambert

Answer 1

Mercator
poleward areas appear larger, but not greatly distorted

Lambert
N -S “flattening ,” especially at poles; makes them appear flatter N -S wider E -W than on globe