Which of the following is a disadvantage of the Mercator projection?

The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection that maintains angles, making it especially useful for navigation. However, one of the significant disadvantages of this projection is that great circles, which represent the shortest distance between two points on the Earth's surface, appear as curved lines on the Mercator map. This can be misleading for navigators, as they might assume that the straight-line path on the map is the shortest route, when in fact it is not.

The projection is designed such that lines of latitude and longitude are straight and perpendicular to each other, which aids in maintaining course direction. However, the distortions increase significantly as one moves away from the equator, affecting the representation of areas and distances, though this does not specifically relate to great circles. By understanding that great circles do not plot as straight lines but rather as curves on a Mercator projection, navigators can make more informed decisions about routing.