Minute

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This article is about the unit of time, angle and right ascension. For the document in which the proceedings of a court or a meeting are recorded, see minutes.

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

Contents

[edit] Time

The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. Some rare minutes have 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.

[edit] Geometry

In geometry, the minute is a unit of angle, 1/60th of a degree. It is also known as a minute of angle or minute of arc and can further be divided into 60 seconds of arc.

The symbol for a minute of arc is a prime (′). For example, fifteen minutes could be written 15′. However, more commonly an apostrophe, or single quote (U+0027), is used.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Origin

The first division was originally known as a "prime minute", from Latin "(pars) minuta prima", meaning "first minute (i.e. small) part (or division)" of the hour. Likewise, the second was known as a "second minute", meaning "the second small division" of the hour.

Look up minute in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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