Why do naps last 1 – 2 hours, but we can sleep for 8 hours straight at night?

Question

I’ve just noticed, that when I take a nap, my body wakes myself up within 1 – 2 hours. This is probably true for everyone else too. But our bodies allow us to sleep for 8 hours at night. Why can’t our bodies nap for a full 8 hours without waking up? How does our body know this? How does our body differentiate between napping vs a nights sleep?

In: Biology

Answer 1

It’s pretty much just our internal clock, it can be trained too if you set an alarm for say 20 minutes each time you nap after awhile you start to wake up 20 minutes after you fall asleep