A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle.

The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute occasionally has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units.

The symbol for minute or minutes is min.

The fact that an hour contains 60 minutes is probably due to influences from the Babylonians, who used a base-60 or sexagesimal counting system.

Astronomy

In astronomy, the minute is a unit of angle, the minute of right ascension. It is equal to 1/60th of an hour of right ascension and can be further divided into 60 seconds of right ascension.

The symbol for a minute of right ascension is min.

The Earth turns on its polar axis through fifteen minutes of arc in every minute of sidereal time. One minute of arc at the Earth's equator is approximately one nautical mile.

In old astronomical texts minute can also mean a unit of time equal to 1/60th of a day (24 usual minutes). These minutes correspond to the Latin diei scrupulis, and used to express periods of planetary motions. For example, Kepler in Harmonices Mundi gives Saturn year as 10759D12', that is 10759 (Earth) days, 4 hours, and 48 (usual) minutes.

See also

• International System of Units
• Latitude and longitude

External links

References

• Henry Campbell Black, Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, entry on Minute. West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1991.
• Eric W. Weisstein. "Arc Minute." From MathWorld -- A Wolfram