Tell me how we lose days in a year, or do we just gain them and that is why we have leap years?

Answer 1

Think of it as the remainder in a long-division problem...

To the first two decimal places, the number of elapsed solar days divided by the number of astronomically determined years is about 365 and a quarter (365.25) days per year-- but that is just an approximation.

Every four years we add an extra day to the year to account for the accumulated quarter days.

To get closer to the actual number, the Gregorian calendar (Ref. 1) saves up the accumulated error and once every 400 years it skips the once-every-four-year "leap" day. That makes the year 365.2425 days long-- close enough for government work ;)

It turns out that the vibrations of an atom provide a more stable basis for time measurement than the planets- which are perturbed by their mutual interactions. Even the spin of the earth is changed slightly by earthquakes, polar ice accumulation or melting, and tidal interactions with the moon and the sun.

The upshot of all this is that the second is actually defined in terms of atomic vibrations, and "leap seconds" are added or subtracted as needed to keep atomic clocks in sync with the earth's rotation and orbit.

Answer 2

Nothing is exact my dear. However the earth takes approximately 365.25 days to go around the sun once. This gives us an earth year. and to make up for that 1/4 of a year, every 4 years we add an extra day to the calender to compensate. It all about rotation.

Answer 3

It's from the rotation around the sun. Every four years the distance the earth travels is enough for an extra day.

Answer 4

It takes the earth 365 days and approx. 6 hours to make one complete orbit around the sun (one earth year). So every fourth year we add 1 day (Feb. 29th) to correct the 6 hours that we should have every year.

Answer 5

We gain .25 day in a year. so every 4 years we adjust one day in feb. But real calculation is more complicated. We also loose one day in every 400 years.

Answer 6

interesting question, its got to do something with the revolving of earth around the sun, since earth gets closer every time due to the gravitational pull of the sun, we complete a circle quicker than before, and hence the lesser time every year.

Answer 7

The number is more 365.25, but we instead have it at 365, and thus skip a day every four years to account for that.

Answer 8

time is slowing down, although very slowly.i think it is 0.0000000000001seconds a year or so.this is 'cause the earth is slowing down its revolution.but by the calender, we have 356.26 days in a year, sowe have leap years, even thoughtime is slowing down.

Answer 9

I think you answered it yourself. One year we loose a day and the next we gain. COOL AVATAR!

Answer 10

Time isn't perfect, so this keeps us in balance