PsykoKidd questions a 'yes' response to: >To paraphrase: The question was, "Over the span of a year do all >places on earth recieve on average exactly 12 hours of daylight >and 12 hours of night."
(The phrasing in the Sunday weekend paper was a little different: "... Does the sun shine equally all over the Earth on an annual basis?") Interpreting the question as in the paraphrase above: It would appear that since the year is approximately 365.25 days long, then the quarter-day's endpoint will occur at varying phases of the day- night cycle at different places around the world. Hence, the correct answer appears to be 'no.' Example: At a point on the equator where a year began exactly at sunrise, it will again be sunrise 365 days later in that year. However, the year will not end until after 6 more hours of sunlight. Since days are divided equally into 12 daylight hrs and 12 night hrs at the equator, the location will have had a total of 12 * 365 = 4380 hrs of darkness, but will have had 12 * 365 + 6 = 4386 hrs of light for the year. A spot 180° away in longitude, but also on the equator, will have had 4386 hrs of darkness but only 4380 hrs of light for that year. Bill Maddux
