Why do we have leap year?

Answer 1

The earth orbits the sun 365 days and 6 hours, and 6 hours is 1/4 of a day, but us humans only count our calender as 365 days in a year, so every 4 years, those 1/4 of a day add up to one whole day, so we can catch up our calender with 366 days, adding February 29 as a day in leap year :)

Answer 2

we have leap year because that extra day was really supposed to be dedicated to just women. But nooo... men wanted to make up some smart answer as to why that extra day is there. Well guess again men, It's for the girls.

Answer 3

It is necessary to have a leap year every 4 years because the earth does not make a complete rotation to equal 365 days. It is usually about 1 day behind. So we add another day to February so we can have the correct date with the earths rotation (or revolution).

Answer 4

Because it takes longer than 365 days to get back to the same place in the Earth's orbital path around the Sun

If we did not add an extra day every four years, in another century the seasons would be almost a month off from where they are now. We would have Summer starting in July instead of June, and Christmas would be much warmer as it would be in mid-fall instead of early winter. (For the Northern hemisphere)

As a side note, we often add a leap-second just to really be precise (usually on New Year's Eve)

Answer 5

Because it takes approx 365 and a quarter days to orbit the sun. Since this is not a whole number of days, it is necessary to make the adjustment. Otherwise the seasons (which depend on our position in the orbit) would drift.

Answer 6

The earth's takes about 1/4 a day more than 365 days to orbit the sun. So every four years we have to make up for the time we didn't have on our calendars so we add a day.