Daylight saving

With daylight saving, the clocks in an area are changed, usually by an hour, so that better use is made of the daylight hours.

• At the beginning of daylight saving, would you put the clock forward an hour, or backward an hour?

Don’t just guess, but try to explain your answer, perhaps relating it to the spinning of the earth about its axis.

• Is your answer the same for northern and southern hemispheres of the earth?


As the earth spins on its axis, the sun appears to rise in the east and move towards the west. Suppose with normal time, the sun rises at 5 a.m. in the summer and 7 a.m. in the winter. Since few people are up at 5 a.m. to appreciate the dawn, in the spring the clocks are put forward an hour. So when it is really 5 a.m., the clocks read 6 a.m., when more people are ready to wake up and utilize the natural light. Similarly the clocks are then put back in autumn (fall). The rule is: spring – forward, fall – back. The rule is the same for both hemispheres.