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What percentage of US adults understand leap day?

Pheran

Pheran

Diamond Member
What percentage of US adults do you think could correctly explain the reason for leap day? Sadly, I'm betting it's something like 10%.

Who on ATOT is guilty of not understanding leap day? 🙂

PS: I only specified "US" because that's where my experience lies. Input from other countries welcome.
 
What's it there to understand?

Every year, the calendar of 365 days round down some excess hours, that adds up to a whole day every 4th year, so we attach that on Feb. Was that so hard? Was that so cool for you to know to show off?
 
The sun, being the angry center of our solar system, felt no need to bow to our mathematical fiats and said screw you to the calendar guild, who had to make do.
 
Zeze said:
What's it there to understand?

Every year, the calendar of 365 days round down some excess hours, that adds up to a whole day every 4th year, so we attach that on Feb. Was that so hard? Was that so cool for you to know to show off?
Click to expand...

If I was trying to show off I wouldn't be claiming to know something that should be common knowledge.
 
Zeze said:
What's it there to understand?

Every year, the calendar of 365 days round down some excess hours, that adds up to a whole day every 4th year, so we attach that on Feb. Was that so hard? Was that so cool for you to know to show off?
Click to expand...

I can feel the eyes of people who have yet to read this glazing over.

Let me tell you a story. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. When I was in the 7th grade, I was helping a teacher set up some maps before class (I had arrived a couple minutes early after lunch). During the conversation she said the following:

"Most of your classmates cannot find the United States on a World map, California on a US map or San Francisco on a California map."

That day in class, she was proven correct when at least half of the people in the class failed at the above tasks.


What I am trying to say is that seems that seem so completely common sense or common knowledge to those with even the most average of intelligence and education, may be completely beyond others.

I know some very intelligent and well-educated people who I would be willing to bet a lot of money do not understand why we have a leap day (And many of those individuals are Jewish and have been told of the leap month in the Hebrew Calendar their whole life, too).

MotionMan
 
Zeze said:
What's it there to understand?

Every year, the calendar of 365 days round down some excess hours, that adds up to a whole day every 4th year, so we attach that on Feb. Was that so hard? Was that so cool for you to know to show off?
Click to expand...

intriguing. i did not know that. so is 2012 a leap year? why every four years? why not make it an even five?
 
SandEagle said:
intriguing. i did not know that. so is 2012 a leap year? why every four years? why not make it an even five?
Click to expand...

207_not_sure_if_serious.jpg


http://mathworld.wolfram.com/EvenNumber.html

MotionMan
 
There's going to be a leap second in June. If only 10% can explain leap days, I think we're looking at 0.1% for leap seconds.
 
6 hours extra every year not enough for a full day,but every 4 years = 24 hours, we add it in February because it makes sense.

That is my explanation of it, haha.
 
oooh, I like this. Lifted from wikipedia

is_leap_year = ( year modulo 4 is 0 ) and ( ( year modulo 100 is not 0 ) or ( year modulo 400 is 0 ) )
 
A year is approximately 365.25 days long. Hence the extra day every four years. Didn't even need to look that one up.
 
I thought every 4 years we were all supposed to leap in the air at midnight so that the Earth wasn't weighted down and could catch up enough to stay in synch with the sun.
 
Zeze said:
What's it there to understand?

Every year, the calendar of 365 days round down some excess hours, that adds up to a whole day every 4th year, so we attach that on Feb. Was that so hard? Was that so cool for you to know to show off?
Click to expand...
See sig.

Even brilliant people can be ignorant to simple things.
 
feralkid said:
The sun, being the angry center of our solar system, felt no need to bow to our mathematical fiats and said screw you to the calendar guild, who had to make do.
Click to expand...

I like this. I'm going to change my belief.

I've understood leap day for most of my life. In the 50 plus years I've been alive this knowledge has not ONCE been helpful in any way.
 
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