Why pm and am

Time is divided into hours, minutes, and seconds. Each day is 24 hours, each hour is 60 minutes, and each minute is 60 seconds. Example: means 8 Hours and 20 Minutes. Time is displayed in two ways.

The first is through a hour clock, and the other is through an AM-PM clock. The abbreviation 'AM' stands for ante meridiem before the meridian line has crossed the Sun or the time between midnight and The hour clock method defines all 24 hours of the day using the numbers 1 to 12, followed by am or pm. Ante meridiem is generally referred to as AM, am, a. M whereas PM, pm, p. For instance, instead of Noon or 12 PM civilian time , military time denotes which should be pronounced as twelve hundred.

The same pronunciation is also used to indicate time in radio communication. This format is the most exact way to refer to time and use it for navigation and scheduling. Even though the hour time format might be puzzling and ambiguous for many people, it is still the most popular format for the wristwatches.

Moreover, referring to time in a less complex manner is convenient for informal communication on matters which do not require precise timing. There might be confusion regarding the time of a day as well as it can mislead in the date when midnight is not properly indicated.

Considering that legal and other formal standards require the use of hour convention, the utilization of AM and PM would remain only as the tradition in informal communication. All rights reserved. India , London , Japan. United States Canada. About us Widgets for websites and blogs Analog clock widget Digital clock widget Text clock widget. What do AM and PM mean?

Is noon AM or PM? Is midnight AM or PM? Buy Now. A stylish hour analogue clock that will make a statement on any wall, with its bold monochrome face, and matte black metal casing Visit the Royal Observatory. Plan your visit. Plan your visit to the Royal Observatory. Top things to do. From historic clocks and telescopes to cutting edge astronomy, find all there is to see at the home of Greenwich Mean Time. Visit Us. Search Want to search our collection? Is midnight am or pm? The hour system divides the 24 hours of a day into two periods lasting 12 hours each.

The first hour period is designated as am. It runs from midnight to noon. The second period, marked pm, covers the 12 hours from noon to midnight. Using numbers from 1 to 12, followed by am or pm, the hour clock system identifies all 24 hours of the day. For example, 5 am is early in the morning, and 5 pm is late in the afternoon; 1 am is one hour after midnight, while 11 pm is one hour before midnight.

Ante meridiem is commonly denoted as AM, am, a.