The sun rises two hours earlier in Arunachal compared to Gujarat, but the clocks show the same time. How does this happen?
Answer (2)
The sun rises earlier in Arunachal Pradesh than in Gujarat due to their geographical locations, even though both use the same Indian Standard Time. Arunachal Pradesh lies to the east of Gujarat, making the sunrise occur earlier there. Despite clocks showing the same time, the actual time of sunrise is affected by the Earth's rotation and time zones.
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The phenomenon where the Sun rises earlier in Arunachal Pradesh compared to Gujarat, yet the clocks show the same time, is an interesting example of how time zones work.
What is happening?
India is located in a way that it extends from west to east, from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. Arunachal Pradesh is on the eastern side, and Gujarat is on the western side. Due to Earth's rotation, areas in the east will experience sunrise earlier than areas in the west.
Time Zones:
To maintain a standardized time across the country, India follows a single time zone called Indian Standard Time (IST), which is 5 1 / 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+5:30). This means that regardless of the actual time the Sun rises or sets in different parts of the country, all clocks in India show the same time.
Why does this happen?
The use of a single time zone helps in simplifying timekeeping and is practical for daily life and operations, such as transportation, business, and broadcasting. This avoids confusion that might arise from having different time zones in different regions within the country.
Impact on Daily Life:
Although clocks show the same time, people living in Arunachal Pradesh may start their day earlier naturally due to the earlier sunrise, while in Gujarat, people may have relatively later starts.
In conclusion, the use of a single standard time (IST) ensures uniformity in timekeeping across India but does result in variations in local solar time, which is why the sunrise is seen earlier in the east compared to the west despite the clocks showing the same time.
