Why is day and night the same on the vernal equinox?

Answer 1

This happens at both the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

The equinoxes are the points in the earth's orbit of the sun when the Sun is positioned directly over the Earth's equator. This only happens twice a year because the earths axis of rotation is inclined approximately 23.44° from the plane of the orbit round the sun. Thus when the north pole is pointing at the sun the south pole is permanently in darkness and at the other end of the orbit when the south pole is pointing at the sun the north pole is permanently in darkness - this gives us summer and winter.

Now when the earth is 1/2 way between summer and winter positions (a day in spring and autumn) the axis of rotation is not pointing at the sun at all which means that both the north and south poles are illuminated evenly and each get 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. This happens all over the planet and is the day of the equinox equinox.

Answer 2

The Earth is tilted at 21º. When Earth is in an equinox, the Sun's light hits earth perpendicular to the vertical plane of the tilt axis. This makes for equal night and day. When Earth is in a solstice, it will either be pointing to, or away from the Sun. If Earth is pointing towards the Sun, and you are in the northern hemisphere, then the day will be longer than the night, and vice versa for when the Earth is pointing away. To see this in action, find a globe and a flashlight. Point the flashlight at the globe, and rotate the axis perpendicular, towards, or away from the flashlight. Then spin the globe. Watch how much light hits the north hemisphere.

Answer 3

The equinoxes are the only times when the earth's rotational axis is perpendicular to the path of the sunlight reaching the earth. Neither the north pole nor the south pole is tilted toward or away from the sun at those times.

Answer 4

Actually, the length of daylight and night are equal on the day of the vernal equinox. At this time, the sun appears to be directly over the earth's equator. As the year progresses into summer, the tilted axis of the earth's rotation causes the sun to appear to move farther North creating longer days than nights. The daylight hours reach their longest time at the summer solstice. After this, the daylight hours shorten until the again equal the nighttime hours on the autumnal equinox. From this point, the daylight hours grow shorter until the time of the winter solstice (the shortest daylight period of the year.) After the winter solstice, the daylight hours lengthen as the year again moves toward the vernal equinox and the cycle repeats.

The entire cycle is just the opposite for earth's southern hemisphere.

Answer 5

On the vernal equinox, the Earth's axis is tilted in such a way that the sun is directly above the equator, making the day and night of equal length worldwide. This occurs twice a year, signaling the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

Answer 6

the sun is directly above the equator so the length of day and night are the same everywhere you go.

Answer 7

The Sun is directly above the Equator so daylight hours = nighttime hours.

Answer 8

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