CompTIA Data+ DA0-002 (V2) Practice Question

The geography data type is designed for round-earth (ellipsoidal) coordinate systems. SQL Server implements methods such as STDistance, STBuffer and STIntersects that return geodesic results when the column is geography, so the distance between two latitude-longitude points is calculated along the Earth's surface. The geometry type, by contrast, assumes a flat (Euclidean) plane; its distance calculations become inaccurate over large areas and do not automatically use great-circle math. Storing coordinates in varchar or varbinary columns would prevent the database engine from using any spatial methods at all, leaving all calculations to the application layer. Therefore, choosing geography ensures accurate, built-in spatial querying for global distances, while the other options either yield planar errors or lack spatial awareness entirely.