• Question: when does a minute last 61 seconds?

    Asked by 362ghtb32 to Dave, Ed, Guido, Hugh, Stef on 16 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Mariastefania De Vido

      Mariastefania De Vido answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      Hi!

      If you travel with a spaceship at a velocity of 18% the velocity of light in vacuum, a minute for you corresponds to 61 seconds on Earth. So, you should travel at a speed of 54000000 metres per second!

      Stef

    • Photo: Ed Rial

      Ed Rial answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      Hi 🙂

      Because the Earth does not spin precisely once in 24 hours sometimes we have to add one second in to the day.

      There will be a leap second on June the 30th this year, when there will be a time 23:59:60 GMT.

      Ed

    • Photo: Dave Bond

      Dave Bond answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      Everyone else got here first with the good answers.
      All I can say to the others perfect answers is “when your watch is broken”

    • Photo: Guido Bolognesi

      Guido Bolognesi answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      Very good answers!! I prefer “your watch is broken” though ! 😉 😉

    • Photo: Hugh Harvey

      Hugh Harvey answered on 19 Mar 2015:

      According to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service we add a second to our watches whenever the earth has slowed down by about 0.6 seconds compared to standard time. We add this second at midnight at the end of the month of June or December, on average every 18 months.

      I didn’t know this – I had to look it up! Good question!

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