If the cycle of the moon throughout its phases is 29.5 days, how many cycles occur within a year?

Answer 1

365.24/29.5=12.381016949152542372881355932203

Answer 2

The number of digits in the answer depends on the quality of the data provided. The three digits in the number of days in the year varies in the final digit every 4 years. Therefore there are only two reliable digits in the number of days in the year if you start with just three digits. The number of days it takes for the moon to transition through a complete cycle of phases that we start with has 3 digits. It should be obvious that unless the Earth had a circular orbit the number of seconds between two observations of the sun's maximum altitude on adjacent days is different for different days in the year. Our clocks average this difference and it is not large but for this problem it adds a complicating factor that means that the average duration of a cycle from new moon to new moon changes depending on what day of the year is the day of the new moon. Dividing 29.5 into 365 gives an answer of 12 with a small remainder. Specifying more than two digits is inconsistent with the quality of the data provided.

Answer 3

It's not that hard to figure out. Divide the number of days in a year by 29.5.

The earth has 365.25 days per year so according to my calculator 365.25 / 29.5 = 12.38135593

That means you'll have 12 to 13 cycles per year.

Answer 4

13 ?

Answer 5

12.6789