What problems
did the french
engineer,
ferdinand de
lessup run into
when building the
panama canal?

Their plans were hasty and ill-prepared. The French failed to realize that although a sea-level canal worked in Egypt, it would not be possible in Panama. Due to the difference in sea levels between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, a sea-level canal in Panama would not be possible. During their attempt to build a canal in Panama, the French lost 20,000 workers and millions of dollars before they abandoned construction.  

i normally just use

equal area projections

equal-area projection. a projection in which regions on the earth's surface that are of equal area are represented as equal.