Question

Which is longer, a solar year or a lunar year?

A. A solar year because a lunar year is based on 13 months that are 28 days long, which is 364 days.
B. A solar year because a lunar year is 12 months that are 29-30 days long each, for a total of 354-355 days.
C. A lunar year because it is based on the time between total lunar eclipses, which is longer than 365 days.
D. A lunar year because it is 13 months that are 29-30 days long, which is longer than 365 days.

Answer 1

The solar year, at about 365.2422 days, is longer than a lunar year, which is about 354-355 days based on 12 lunar months of 29-30 days. Therefore, the correct answer is option B.

Step-by-step explanation:

A solar year is longer than a lunar year. The length of a solar year is about 365.2422 days, which accounts for the time it takes the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun. A lunar year, on the other hand, is based on the phases of the Moon, from new moon to new moon, which is approximately 29.53 days. Therefore, if we use 12 lunar months to define a lunar year, it totals approximately 354-355 days. This is because a lunar year is made up of 12 months that are 29-30 days long each. Hence, option B is correct: A solar year is longer because a lunar year is 12 months that are 29-30 days long each, for a total of 354-355 days.

While some ancient calendars attempted to synchronize lunar months with the solar year, such as the Metonic calendar, the modern Gregorian calendar, which is solar-based and has a leap year system, is unrelated to the lunar cycle. The Greeks found that adding 7 months over the course of 19 years aligned the calendar with the solar year, leading to an average year length of 12 + 7/19 months, or approximately 365.2467 days.