I always wondered why there are 24 and not 20 hours in a day. Wouldn't it be easier for us all if there were 10 day-time hours and 10 night-time hours? So easy to show the time using our fingers, right?
And why 60 minutes in an hour? Why not 100 minutes?
2006-07-13 23:53:29 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The day's length is based on the Earth's rotation not some random selection of numbers....it takes 24 hrs to rotate on its axis and thus create a new day
2006-07-13 23:57:22 · answer #1 · answered by Coupe60 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
It seems it's because the Babylonians first devised and wrote about Geometry and their system was based on the number 60.
They devised the circle with 360 degrees (6 times 60). They split each degree into 60 seconds of an arc. They were near the equator and had almost equal days and night so the day was 12 hours and the night 12. A quarter day being 6 hours (1/10th of 60). They probably couldhave made the day 60 hours, but didn't. What they did was base it on their Astrology/Astronomy in which major constellations seen overhead were grouped into 12 distinct groupings, just like we have today. The first part of Aries marks spring (March 21). So when this division line is on the Eastern horizon at sunset and overhead at mightnight they know it is the start of springtime. Logically they couldhave made the night 6 hours long, becasue only 6 constellations are seen at night at any given time. This would make each season (quadrature) 3 months long, unless they thought in terms of summer and winter.
Not eveyrone adopted this system. Jewish, Arabs and Near East countries have retained the lunar calendar. The JEwish people call this the year 5766.
No one really knows for sure why 24, other than the fact it is a derivative of the 60 based system and twice the number of constellations.
As it was the Earth takes 365 days not 360 to travel around the sun so their format wasn't quite perfect.
2006-07-14 00:25:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Metric Time
2016-11-07 09:17:14 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A while back, the French tried to have a system like that, ten seconds in a minute, 100 minutes in a hour and 20 hours a day. It proved entirely unworkable because they kept the length of a second the same as the way everybody else was using.
It turned out they didn't have enough days to go around. If you started the day when the sun rose, by the time 20 hours had past, the sun had set, risen and set again.
2006-07-13 23:59:20 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
easily divisible.
Numbers in the metric system are usually just divisible by factors of 2. 24, 12 and 60 are divisible by both factors of 2 and 3. Actually, the question should be: why didnt we just adopt the measuring system used for time?
*the egyptian answer sounds pretty good. I nominate for best answer.
2006-07-13 23:58:28 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I reckon it is cause we started measiring time long time before the metric system was up. and converting the minutes, seconds, hours, days, weeks and months and years into metric system would be beneficial, like you say, sure, but the transition would causec just total chaos, so nobody attempted that, cause people would eat him alife.
i hope somebody will get us all the explanation where have all the hours, minutes, etc come from - i would like to know too.
have a nice day
2006-07-14 00:00:41 · answer #6 · answered by iva 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it takes the earth a certain amount of time to travel around the sun and the moon around the earth, etc. When these are divided evenly into units we get the 60 sec in a minute and so forth. Measurement of indefinite quantites can not be evenly divided as there is no constant, such measurement is infinite.
2006-07-13 23:57:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why is a day divided into 24 hours?
December 2003 answer: It appears that the Egyptians were responsible for the 24 hour day. The Eqyptians were fond of counting in base twelve (instead of base 10 which is commonly used today). This is thought to be because they counted finger joints instead of fingers. Each of your fingers has three joints, so if you count by pointing to finger joints with your thumb you can count to twelve on each hand. This might seem arbitrary, but is actually just a strange as counting in base ten simply because we have ten digits.
2006-07-13 23:57:34 · answer #8 · answered by crazyotto65 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because the ay we mesure time was created by the babylonians, and they didn't use 10 as a base for countig, but 60.
Therefore you have 60 sec in one minute and 60 min in one hours, then considering the astronomicla propertie of the orbit of the earth, it took approximatly 24 hours for the earth to complete a revolution
2006-07-13 23:57:22 · answer #9 · answered by australeolive 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How the **** would you measure time in the metric way to begin with? There are no acceptable equivalents. What a very stupid question.
2006-07-13 23:58:04 · answer #10 · answered by kingofnarniaforever 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋