To calculate how many seconds are in a year, we need to break it down by considering the number of seconds in a minute, minutes in an hour, hours in a day, and days in a year.
Step-by-step Breakdown:
1. Seconds in a Minute:
- There are 60 seconds in a minute.
2. Minutes in an Hour:
- There are 60 minutes in an hour.
3. Hours in a Day:
- There are 24 hours in a day.
4. Days in a Year:
- A common year has 365 days (We will calculate for a common year first).
- A leap year has 366 days, but we’ll first calculate for a non-leap year.
Step 1: Calculate the Number of Seconds in One Year (Common Year)
To find the total number of seconds in a common year (365 days), we multiply each unit of time step-by-step:
Seconds per year = 60 seconds / minute × 60 minutes / hour × 24 hours / day × 365 days / year
First, calculate:
60 × 60 = 3,600 seconds
Then:
3,600 × 24 = 86,400 seconds / day
Finally:
86,400 × 365 = 31,536,000 seconds / year.
So, a common year has 31,536,000 seconds.
Step 2: Calculate the Number of Seconds in a Leap Year
In a leap year, there are 366 days, so we just change the 365 to 366 in the calculation:
86,400 seconds / day × 366 days / year = 31,622,400 seconds / year
So, a leap year has 31,622,400 seconds.
Summary of Results:
- A common year (365 days) has 31,536,000 seconds.
- A leap year (366 days) has 31,622,400 seconds.
Conclusion:
- There are 31,536,000 seconds in a common year and 31,622,400 seconds in a leap year.