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ProfessorLeap Years occur because the Earth does not orbit the Sun in exactly 365 days; the Earth orbits the Sun in 365.24 days. So every 4th year is a leap year in the Gregorian calendar, when an extra day - February 29 - is added to the calendar.
There are two exceptions to the "every 4 years" rule.
1. Century years that are divisible by 100 are NOT leap years, UNLESS
2. the century year is divisible by 400.
So, from 1900 to 2012, every 4th year was a leap year EXCEPT 1900. 1900 was not a leap year, and 2100 won't be. But 2000 was a leap year, because 2000 can be evenly divided by 400.
The Gregorian calendar will be accurate enough for anyone alive today but it is going to need a correction in the future. The above rules would be accurate if the orbit was exactly 365.2425. The actual orbit is 365.242199. Thus approximately every 3,200 years, in conjunction with rule 2 above, we will need to skip the planned leap day.
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Future leap years?
Leap Years are years divisible by four, with two exceptions. 1. "Century" year numbers (divisible evenly by 100) are not leap years. 2. Years divisible evenly by 400 ARE leap years. So years like 1992 and 1996 were leap years. Century years like 1900 or 2100 are NOT leap years. But 2000 was a leap year, and 2400 will be.
How many leap years will there be from 2000 to 3000 inclusive?
Leap years are any years evenly divisible by four, with two exceptions. So years like 2004 and 2008 are leap years.The two exceptions:Any "century" year evenly divisible by 100 is NOT a leap year, so 1900 was not a leap year and 2100 will not be a leap year, except:Any year number divisible by 400 IS a leap year, so 2000 was and 2400 will be leap years.Of the 1000 years between 2001 and 3000, there are 250 "divisible by 4" years, minus 10 "century" years plus 2 "divisible by 400" years (2400 and 2800) gives 242 leap years between 2001 and 3000. Add 2000, and there are 243 leap years between 2000 and 3000, inclusive.
Three leap years from 1950 to 1970?
That is correct. The leap years from 1950 to 1970 were:196019641968
Do any other planets have leap years?
Any planet with people who use calendars would need to invent leap years.
Which month has a number of days divisible by 4?
In non-leap years, February has 28 days. 28 is a multiple of 4.
