Why do you measure time by the sun?

Answer 1

The sun affects the seasons because the earth's axis is tilted 23½º respect to the plane of its orbit around the sun. When the hemisphere where you live is tilted towards the sun the rays fall more directly so it's summer or spring but when it is tilted away the rays fall obliquely and are less strong so it's winter or Autumn.

If the earth's axis were straight up and down, there would be only a minuscule variation in temperature at any given latitude, due only to the fact that the earth's orbit isn't exactly circular. But mostly there wouldn't be any seasons!

Answer 2

The sun doesn't effect time,

but the Earth's rotation (and the sun's apparent position) sets what we think of as time.

After all, a clock is nothing but a mechanical sundial and clocks turn clockwise because sundials (in the northern hemisphere) turn clockwise ... because the Earth turns counterclockwise.

Answer 3

Most folks realize that the Sun rises in the East every morning and moves westward across the sky. It is also evident to observers that the Sun sets in the West every evening and returns triumphantly to the East over the course of the night to rise again. The activities in this section focus on systematic observations because most of our students do not have experience as "observers." The motion of the Sun is easy and complicated at the same time, depending on the depth you wish to observe it. Students will quickly discover that wristwatch time and sundial time are not the same.

Answer 4

The sun does not have the mass to alter time. The gravity from the sun can warp space, but to warp time you would need something as dense as a black hole, or one would have to travel at a fast speed. The closer to the speed of light, the more time slows down. This is the same reason why a black hole can warp time, the gravity accelerates mass close to the speed of light.

Answer 5

The sunrise and sunset time vary from season to season, because the seasons themselves are created by the distance of the sun from the Earth. The distance of the sun from the Earth creates the different seasons and cause different sunrise times and sunset times. In the Summer, the sunrise time is earlier in the morning and the sunset time is later in the evening. In the Winter, the opposite is true with the sunrise time later in the morning and the sunset time in the early evening.

Answer 6

Two identical clocks ... one on Earth's surface and one on the surface of another

planet ... would run at different rates. But the difference would be so small that

you'd never notice it. It would take precise measurements in a high-class Physics

lab to be able to spot it and measure it.

One difference in the two clocks would be something like the difference between

a clock that stays here on Earth and another one that flies around the world on an

airplane and for the same reason (an effect of Relativity, as explained by Einstein).

Also, there would be an effect on time caused by the different gravitational field strengths on other planets (another consequence of Relativity).

Answer 7

Measuring time by the sun is natural and historically practical because the sun's position in the sky changes predictably throughout the day. This method has been used for thousands of years, with early civilizations using sundials and observing shadows to track time.

Answer 8

It doesn't affect it as such, but it is used for gauging the duration and passage of time.