Why are there 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 60 cycles in electricity?

Answer 1

Base 60 has been popular ever since the ancient Babylonians. That has a lot to do with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagesimal

Answer 2

60 is a good number for playing with fractions, or multiplying around to get new numbers.

You can divide it by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, etc.

This lets you multiply it to get 120V, or 240v, or you can divide it down to 12 v, which lets you convert the 60 cycle electricity to a lot of different purposes. Way back in the way back days, there were all kinds of awkward different voltages, cycles, and amperages in use, and the 60 cycle electricity was a compromise so that the different devices in use at the time could get about what they needed, and still work for a while until new ones came out.

The 60 second thing is a little harder to explain, but it goes back to the sumerians and such dividing a circle into 360 degrees, and that divides into 60 six times, it was part of some astrology kind of cult or something.

Answer 3

There are 60 cycles in US electricity BECAUSE there are 60 seconds in a minute. It was just a convenient thing the utilities did back when most clocks used the line frequency to set their timing. Few do that now.

As for why they use 60 seconds in a minute and 60 min in an hour? Not sure. I think it goes back to minutes and seconds are used in mapping, and something like 360 degrees (going around the earth) divided by 6 is 60.

I'm sure somebody has a better answer :(

Answer 4

because its been this way since i rememeber...
Analog clocks usually indicate time using angles. The most common clock face uses a fixed numbered dial or dials and moving hand or hands. It usually has a circular scale of 12 hours, which can also serve as a scale of 60 minutes, and often also as a scale of 60 seconds – though many other styles and designs have been used throughout the years, including dials divided into 6, 8, 10, and 24 hours. Of these alternative versions, the 24 hour analog dial is the main type in use today. The 10 hour clock was briefly popular during the French Revolution, when the metric system was applied to time measurement, and an Italian 6 hour clock was developed in the 18th century, presumably to save power (a clock or watch chiming 24 times uses more power).

Answer 5

The Earth's rotation takes 24 hours to complete one rotation. The globe is divided into latitudes and longitudes to complete the rotation between one longitude and the other it takes 60 minutes and the space between one longitude and the other is divided into 60 mini longitudes. The Earth takes 1 minute, that is, 60 seconds to rotate from one mini longitude to the other. So there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. The Time is based on the Planet Earth's rotation on its own axis.

Answer 6

This reasoning goes back to Ancient Babylon. They counted to six and then added. In French you say soixante dix neuf (sixty and ten and nine) for 79. It's from Babylon. It has to do with Astronomical recordings inorder to divide the year into the fertile seasons. They wanted to know when to plant and harvest. So that they wouldn't have famine. 360 days per year is based on this Ancient Babyonian system 360/60days = 6 months. 360days/6 months =60 days/month. They divided the year into 6 months maybe. Ancinet Babylon is supposed to be located in Modern Iraq. The people from that part of the world were like that once.

Answer 7

The Babylonians and later the Greeks, LOVED the number six.

Sixty was just a natural spring-off from there. Most likely because it can be divided by so many numbers - remember: the Greeks DID NOT use decimals - every number was supposed to be able to be represented by a fraction. 60 is a great number to choose if you can only deal with fractions.

JM

Answer 8

kanajlo is right on the money. For electricity, sixty cycles was a workable number for Tesla's original machines, but a number of European countries used fifty because the magnetic materials at the time worked a bit better at the lower frequency. If we had it to do over again, we'd probably pick a higher frequency -- 400 cycles has been popular for use in airplanes -- because the transformers are smaller.

Answer 9

Because 60 is the number??

Answer 10

What do you mean 60 cycles in electricity?

The AC supply in my country is 50 Hz