Home > Science Fact Finder > Time, Weights, and Measures - When Does Leap Year Occur?
Time, Weights, and Measures - When Does Leap Year Occur?
When does leap year occur?
A leap year is a year with an extra day—February 29. Leap years occur on years that are exactly divisible by four (with no remainder), with the exception of most century (also called "centenary") years. A century year is a year that ends in the digits "00." Only century years divisible by 400 are leap years. For instance, even though 1900 is divisible by four (1900/4 equals 475), 1900 was not a leap year. That's because 1900 is not perfectly divisible by 400 (1900/400 equals 4.75) The next century year, 2000, will be a leap year.
Source: Burnam, Tom. The Dictionary of Misinformation, p. 136.
[The entire page is 112 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
-
Time
- How is time measured?
- What is meant by Universal Time?
- How many time zones are there in the world?
- Who establishes the correct time in the United States?
- What is military time?
- What do the initials a.m. and p.m. mean?
- When is Daylight Savings Time observed in the United States?
- What is a leap second?
- What is the exact length of a calendar year?
- Where did the term "grandfather clock" come from?
- What were the longest and shortest years on record?
- Besides the Julian and Gregorian calendars, what other calendars have been used?
- When does leap year occur?
- When did January 1 become the first day of the new year?
- How were the months of the year named?
- Where do the names of the days of the week come from?
- Why are the lengths of the seasons not equal?
-
Weights And Measures
- What is the metric system of measurement?
- What are the U.S. and metric units of measurement for area?
- How did the yard as a unit of measurement originate?
- What is a bench mark?
- How was the length of a meter originally determined?
- How are U.S. customary measures converted to metric measures and vice versa?
- What is the difference between a short ton, a long ton, and a metric ton?
- Why is a nautical mile different from a statute mile?
- What are the equivalents for dry and liquid measures?
- What are U.S. and British measures for volume and weight of water?
