At what degree of longitude does one hour of time difference occur?

Study for the Earth Science Regents Exam. Dive into flashcards and multiple-choice questions, complete with hints and explanations. Prepare confidently for your exam!

The correct answer is that one hour of time difference occurs at 15 degrees of longitude. This is based on the Earth's rotation, which is approximately 360 degrees in 24 hours. When you divide 360 degrees by the number of hours in a day, you find that the Earth rotates about 15 degrees each hour. Therefore, for every 15 degrees of longitude you travel east or west, there is a corresponding one-hour difference in local solar time.

This relationship is fundamental in understanding time zones and how they are determined. Each time zone typically spans 15 degrees of longitude, which helps to synchronize time across different regions of the world.

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