2007-02-22 01:20:41 · 7 answers · asked by nishant 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Ancient Sumerians and Babylonians used base-60 numbers as compared to our current base-10 number system.
FYI: Their circular calendar which dates back to about 2400 BC, divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each, that is, 360 days.
That's how we got a 360 degree circle. Around 1500 BC, Egyptians divided the day into 24 hours, though the hours varied with the seasons originally. Greek astronomers made the hours equal. About 300 to 100 BC, the Babylonians subdivided the hour into base-60 fractions: 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute. The base 60 of their number system lives on in our time and angle divisions.
2007-02-22 01:26:29 · answer #1 · answered by Tiger Tracks 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Some people think that the reason there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour stems from the fact that ancient people used heart-beats as a way of marking time. A typical person's resting heat rate is about 60 beats a minute. Other measurements came from the body too, for example: the foot (still used today), the hand ( used a lot in ancient times, now only used to measure the height of horses), and the cubit ( the pyramids are measured in cubits. A cubit is the length from the tip of the finger to the tip of the elbow on an average person.)
2007-02-22 01:33:58 · answer #2 · answered by Kender_fury 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Sumerian is the first people to use this system. Their priests made some kind of hourglass, filled with sand, but only have one side and a hole and a bucket below it. The priests measured the sands fall rate into a bucket in a day and divide the sand inside the bucket into 24 jars, so one jar of sand means an hour. They then further devide the sand inside the jar into 60 smaller cups, which mean a minute. They dont do the same with seconds using sands though, as it is not accurate enough. They measure the amount of water fall in the same time a cup of sand fall. Then they made smaller hourglass which use water and divide the cup of water into 60. The later civilisation dont bother making new measurement system of time, so they just copy the sumerian.
2016-05-23 22:48:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Brief answer: the Sumerians were into base 60, and the Babylonians after them.
2007-02-22 01:29:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
as minute is divided into 60 sec.
2007-02-22 01:27:04 · answer #5 · answered by James 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
So you can be 7 minutes late to work and get paid for the full hour.
2007-02-22 01:31:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
why is a minute split into 60 seconds?
2007-02-22 01:24:10 · answer #7 · answered by INDUSTRYkurt 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋