Why do we have time zones?
Earth's Clock Trick
Why do we have time zones?
Have you ever wondered why, when you're eating breakfast, your friend across the ocean is getting ready for bed? It's because Earth spins like a merry-go-round, and the sun can only shine on one side at a time. If we all used the same clock, "noon" would mean blazing sunshine in one place and pitch-black midnight in another. Time zones fix this delightfully weird problem.
Picture yourself standing on Earth as it rotates. The sun doesn't move around us—we spin toward it, then away from it, once every twenty-four hours. When your side of the planet faces the sun, you get daytime. When you've spun to the back side, you get night. It takes a full day for you to spin all the way around and see the sun again.
