Q&A for How to Read a Sundial

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  • Question
    Can a sundial tell time at night?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    No—a sundial works by casting shadows that indicate the time based on the position of the sun. A sundial won’t work if the sun isn’t visible, so you can only use it during the day when it’s clear enough out for the sun to cast a shadow. However, there is a similar device called a moondial that you can use at night, tracking shadows based on the moon’s position.
  • Question
    How accurate is a sundial?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    It depends on how carefully the sundial is designed and oriented. Most of them aren’t truly accurate to within more than about 10 minutes.
  • Question
    What is a shadow clock?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    A shadow clock is any kind of timepiece that tracks the passage of time using the movement of shadows, usually cast by sunlight. A sundial is the most common type of shadow clock. There are also moondials, which track shadows cast by the moon at night.
  • Question
    How do I find the center of my time zone?
    Tom De Backer
    Top Answerer
    There are various definitions. You can take the farthest points N, E, S and W inside your time zone, then take the central point that is equidistant to those 4 points. You could also draw a line from north to south that is equidistant from the vertical edges of your timezone. However, I'm curious why anyone would need this? The time is the same in the entire timezone.
  • Question
    I live in London so why do I add 4 minutes to the shadow yet the USA is behind London in time?
    Hailie
    Community Answer
    During those gap periods, New York is only 4 hours behind London, as opposed to the 5 hour difference, when both cities are on daylight saving or when both cities are off. Because there isn't a moment at which London is on and New York is off daylight saving, the London - New York time difference will never be 6 hours.
  • Question
    What part of the shadow indicates the time - is it the leading edge or the centre of the shadow?
    Community Answer
    The edge of a shadow is what shows the time on a time dial, not the center.
  • Question
    How does a sundial indicate seasons as per Anaximander?
    Betsy Paulino Reyes
    Community Answer
    This cone and its conic section change with the seasons, as the sun's declination changes; hence, sundials that follow the motion of such light-spots or shadow-tips often have different hour-lines for different times of the year.
  • Question
    How does a sundial work?
    Community Answer
    A sundial contains a gnomon, or a thin rod, that casts a shadow onto a platform etched with different times. As the sun changes relative positions over the course of a day, the rod's shadows change as well, thus reflecting the change in time.
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