Days

• A day is measured by how long it takes the earth to rotate (turn) once: 24 hours.
• The earth is divided into 24 time zones. It takes the sun an hour to cross each zone.
• The time zones are marked by imaginary lines called meridians, which run north and south on the globe.
• The prime meridian is at Greenwich, England. It is 0° longitude. From here, east and west longitude is calculated for the rest of the globe.
• A new day begins at the international date line, which is halfway around the world from the prime meridian.
• East of the international date line it is 1 day earlier than west of it. Remember, “Go ahead west to the new day, go back east to the old.”

Fact Monster/Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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