Question

It takes Mars 24.6 hours to rotate once on its axis. How wide in degrees is a time zone on Mars if each time zone represents a different hour? Calculate the width in degrees of a time zone on Mars based on the given information.

Answer 1

A time zone on Mars covers approximately 14.63 degrees of longitude, slightly narrower than Earth's time zones, considering Mars has a longer day of 24.6 hours.

Step-by-step explanation:

Each time zone on Mars would be 360 degrees divided by the number of hours in a martian day. Given that Mars rotates once on its axis in 24.6 hours, we use the formula:

Width of a Mars time zone = 360 degrees / 24.6 hours

Calculation:

360 / 24.6 = 14.63 degrees (rounded to two decimal places)

Therefore, a time zone on Mars would be approximately 14.63 degrees wide.

It's interesting to compare this to the Earth, where each time zone is approximately 15 degrees wide, based on a 24-hour rotation. Since Mars has a slightly longer rotation period, the width of a time zone is slightly narrower than on Earth. This exercise helps us understand how planetary rotation periods determine the measurement of time and the division of regions into time zones.