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The normal calendar has 365 days on it, but it takes the earth 1/4 day longer than that to travel all the way
around the sun in its orbit. So the earth is lagging a whole day behind the calendar every 4 years.

We make every 4th year 1 day longer, in order to let the earth catch up to the calendar.

If we didn't do that, then after 200 years, instead of March 21, the calendar would race ahead
all the way to May 10 before the first day of Spring came along.

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14y ago
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9y ago

Because the Earth takes very nearly 3651/4 days to complete an orbit around the

sun, and that's the real length of the year. So how many squares should we

have on our calendar ? 365 isn't enough, and 366 is too much. We save up the

quarters until we have enough to make a whole day, and then we add the whole

day to the calendar one time.

If we didn't do anything about the quarters, then every century, the seasons

would start about 25 days later. If the longest day of the year was June 21

in the year when Columbus discovered America, then it would be around the

end of October by now. None of that is exactly, but you get the idea.

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14y ago

a complete year ( the time passes while earth complete its tour around sun) is 365 days, 6 hours, 49 minutes. but we have 365 days. the remaining 6 hours an additional day in every 4 years. 49 minutes and the minors corrects in every 400 year and 4000 years but doesn't matter cause average human life is 72 years.

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14y ago

The Earth orbits the Sun every 365.256366 days. Since humans like to deal with whole numbers of days the extra day we add in a leap year accounts for the .25 of a day and brings us back into sync with the actual orbit.

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Q: Why is an extra day added to every February every 4 years?
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Continue Learning about Natural Sciences

What is the actual time your planet Earth takes to go around the sun?

the geological calender has only 365 days in a year and 366 in a leap year.the reason why there is an extra day in a leap year is it takes the earth 365.25 days to orbit once. so if you multiply 0.25 by 4 you would end up with one. this one is added as an extra day at the end of February after every four years.


How many days equal 16 years?

5844 days = 4 years Because: 365 (one year) times 16 (years) plus 4 equals 5844. I added 4 because every 4 years there is leap year where there is 1 extra day)


Why 28 days in Feb?

There are 28 days that exist in February except for every fourth year when there is a day added which is of course the February 29th. The reason being that each day is not exactly 24 hours rather there is a little bit of time that each day goes over the 24 hour period. To make up that time a 24 hour period is added to our calendar once every four years. Baby's that are born on the 29th of February are called leap year baby's. The year 2012 (and all years divisible by 4 but not 100 but 400) February has 29 days.


Do you loose a day every year?

actually, you lose approximately a quarter of a day every year. that is why every 4 years is called a leap year, where we add another day to february.


In the last 100 years what has added excess carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?

Power PlantsMachineryCarsThe burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, which releases extra carbon dioxide that has been underground for 300 million years.

Related questions

Why did they add the extra day to February?

they added a extra day to february because in every 4 years there is 1/4 th of a day which is meant to be a extra day.


Why is tere an extra day in February every 4 years?

because every year there is more hours and all the hours added up make another day


What is the name given to every 4 years with an extra day?

the year is called a leap year.occurs every four years. the additional day is added on the 29th of February which originally has 28 days.


Why do you have a leap year every 366 years?

You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.You have a leap year every 4 years, not every 366 years. It has 366 days in it. The extra day makes up for the fact that a year is about 365.25 days, not 365 days. The four quarters are added together and added as an extra day every 4 years.


What year is with an extra day in February?

leap years have an extra day in february (feburary 29th) but leap years only happen every four years.


What is special about February 28?

For 3 out of every 4 years, it is the last day of the month. In the 4th (Leap) year, an extra day, the 29th, is added.


Why do you need to use leap year?

Every four years, one extra day is added into February. This is because of space. The earth takes 365 and a quarter days to make one full spin of the Sun. This is why there is an extra day every four years.


Why is an extra day added to February every four years-?

Earth takes about 365 and one quarter days to circle the sun once (one year). If we only had 365 days on the calendar, eventually the calendar would be WAY off from the seasons. By adding the extra day every four years, it keeps the calendar in step with the earth's orbit, and thus with the seasons.


Why is a day added to february every 4 years?

The reason is that it takes 365 and 1/4 days for the Earth to revolve once round the Sun - thus every 4 years we need to add an extra day to the year to make up for the 4 1/4 days. This day is added on to February as this is the shortest month.


Why is an extra day and night added to February every four years?

It is because the Chinease found that the time it takes to orbit the sun is actually 365 and 1/4 days. So instead of having an extra quarter day every year they have a leap year


Which month gets an extra day every four years and what is the year of this occurrence called?

Leap year. It happens in February. february, and it occurs on leap years


When does the extra quarter day happen?

The quarter days are added together and every 4 years a day is added to a year, giving us the 29th of February, which is the leap day in the leap year. This keeps the calendars in synch with our orbit of the Sun.