Why are some countries a day behind/ahead others if time moves at the same rate everywhere?
In: Earth Science
You’re confused about what time is. And what it means to be a day behind/ahead.
Time moves at the same rate around the world. Countries that are “behind/ahead” aren’t in the past/future they’ve just measured time from a different starting point.
The way we measure time is a human construct that we can adjust for our convenience. And it’s based on the rotation of the earth on its axis and it’s orbit around the sun. Because the earth is round, when the sun comes into view on one side of the planet, the other side is no longer able to see it.
Since we’re talking about measurement, let’s relate it to distance. If two people, 50m apart, run 100m in the same direction, they both travelled the same distance, but they’re still 50m apart.
Likewise if one side of the world has their sun rise 12 hours before the other, they both travel through time at the same rate but will measure their days from a different starting point.
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