Why is the sunrise or sunset different in the same time zone?

Answer 1

The sunrise and sunset times can vary within the same time zone due to factors such as the tilt of the Earth's axis, the time of year, and the geographic location within the time zone. These factors can affect the angle at which the sun rises and sets, leading to variations in the timing of these events.

Answer 2

Because the Earth's axis is tilted relative to the plane of our orbit, the Sun appears to move north and south of the equator during the cycle of the seasons. So the Sun apparent location also changes at sunrise and sunset. Near the Summer Solstice (June 22 in the northern hemisphere, December 22 in the Southern Hemisphere) the Sun appears to rise early and set later than usual, while on dates near the winter solstice, the Sun rises later and sets earlier.

Answer 3

the tilt of Earth's rotational axis

All along the equator, every day has 12.1 hours of sunlight. At 10° north or south latitude the amount of sunlight ranges from a little over 11.5 hours at the winter solstice to a little over 12.5 hours at the summer solstice. At 30° the range is a little over 10 hours to a little over 14 hours. At 50° the range is a little over 8 hours to a little over 16 hours. At the Arctic and Antarctic Circles the range is 0 to 24 hours.

Imagine a circle whose center is the north or south pole and whose radius extends to the nearest place where sunrise or sunset is occurring. Everywhere within that circle has sunlight 24 hours a day during the spring and summer and 24 hours per day of "night" during fall and winter. The size of that circle grows gradually from 0 at each equinox until the solstice, when that circle is the Arctic Circle or the Antarctic Circle. The line between night and day is always perpendicular to the radius of that circle, it's always a straight line except for shadows cast by the world's contours, and it's always separating the world into almost equal halves.

At the summer solstice, the farther you are from the equator and the closer you are to the Arctic or Antarctic Circle, the more of the latitude on which you live will be illuminated by the sun. And since the world rotates at a relatively constant rate, if the sun is shining on 60% of your latitude, 60% of your day will have sunlight, if the sun is shining on 80% of your latitude, 80% of your day will have sunlight, and so on.

I hope my explanation makes sense.

Answer 4

Sunrise and sunset times change throughout the year because in the summer time, the earth is exposed to more direct sunlight - making the days longer.

In the winter time, the reverse happens. The earth is exposed to less direct sunlight which means the nights are longer and darker.

In spring and fall, the days and the nights are approximately the same length.

Answer 5

The planet Earth has an axial tilt of 23 and a half degrees, to the plane of the ecliptic, which is to say, the Earth's axis is not exactly perpendicular to the line of its orbit around the sun. As a result of this axial tilt, we experience seasons. There are times when a given location on the Earth is tilting toward the sun, and times when it is tilting away. When it is tilting toward the sun it is experiencing a warmer season, and a longer day; when it is tilting away from the sun it is experiencing a colder season and a shorter day.

Answer 6

The Earth rotates at a rate of 15 degrees per hour, or 4 minutes per degree. Before the days of railroads in America, it didn't really matter if all the clocks were synchronized, because things happened when they happened, and an audible alert like a church bell or a school bell would keep everyone in town on the same time.

In those days, you would set the clock to 12:00 noon when the Sun reached its highest point, and that was good enough.

But when stationmasters needed to know when the next train was leaving, it was important that neighboring cities have clocks that agreed. This prompted the standardization of time zones around America, and eventually around the world.