True or False: The material states that radio waves follow a great circle path, not a rhumb line.

True or False: The material states that radio waves follow a great circle path, not a rhumb line.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not specified
• D. Only at equator

Answer: (A)

Radio waves travel in straight lines through space, and when you think of the Earth’s curved surface, the shortest surface path between two distant points is a great-circle arc. A rhumb line, by contrast, would require the signal to maintain a constant compass bearing, which isn’t how a straight radio wave propagates. So the material’s statement is correct: the typical ideal path is a great-circle, not a rhumb line. In real conditions, atmospheric refraction bends the path slightly toward the surface, extending range, but the basic classification as great-circle remains.

Radio waves travel in straight lines through space, and when you think of the Earth’s curved surface, the shortest surface path between two distant points is a great-circle arc. A rhumb line, by contrast, would require the signal to maintain a constant compass bearing, which isn’t how a straight radio wave propagates. So the material’s statement is correct: the typical ideal path is a great-circle, not a rhumb line. In real conditions, atmospheric refraction bends the path slightly toward the surface, extending range, but the basic classification as great-circle remains.