Is Midnight Considered PM, AM, or Neither?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gamish
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the classification of midnight as either AM, PM, or neither. Participants explore the implications of how midnight is defined in relation to the start of a new day and its representation in various contexts, including computer systems and colloquial usage. The scope includes conceptual clarification and informal debate.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants argue that midnight is 12:00 AM, as it represents the start of a new hour following 11:59 PM.
  • Others contend that midnight is neither AM nor PM, suggesting it is a moment of no time, as it does not fit the definitions of ante meridian or post meridian.
  • A participant mentions that technically, midnight can be represented as 00:00 hours, which aligns with AM.
  • Some contributions suggest that the proper terms for the two 12 o'clock hours are midnight and noon, with AM and PM applicable only after these points.
  • There is a humorous exploration of appropriate greetings at midnight and noon, with various suggestions and jokes about the awkwardness of such greetings.
  • A later reply indicates that the confusion about midnight is justified and discusses how a local video store's sign misrepresents the timing of a deal related to midnight.
  • Another participant mentions the use of 12 MN for midnight and 12 N for noon, questioning the necessity of AM or PM for these times.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express multiple competing views regarding the classification of midnight, with no consensus reached on whether it should be considered AM, PM, or neither. The discussion remains unresolved with various interpretations presented.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight the technical aspects of timekeeping and the definitions of AM and PM, while others focus on colloquial usage and the implications of these terms in everyday conversation.

  • #31
It's gone now, Mk.
It was a limited time only thang!
(but your guess was correct)
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #32
yes, midnght is AM.
 
  • #33
Math Is Hard said:
It's gone now, Mk.
It was a limited time only thang!
(but your guess was correct)
MIH, you tease! Your picture was a lot cuter than Barbie!
 
  • #34
It was fun for a while, but I missed my injection-molded look! :biggrin:
 
  • #35
What most of them said... Just like 1:00 and 1 second is the turning point from 12 to 1; so is 12:00 and 1 second is the turning point from PM to AM and vice versa.
 
  • #36
What most of them said... Just like 1:00 and 1 second is the turning point from 12 to 1; so is 12:00 and 1 second is the turning point from PM to AM and vice versa.

------ The world is a problem... SOLVE IT!
 
  • #37
Gamish said:
Sorry that I never replied yet, its just that when I went to the logic section, there was a "-" on the replies table, so I though man, this is one dead forum, :rolleyes: Yes, I believe midnight is technecly not AM nor PM, but according to logic and computers (which has the final say), midnight is AM, the beginning of a new day, the sign was wrong, hehe. The sign just said that there was a deal from midnight new years eav, to 1:00 AM new years day, when technecly, it should have said that there was a deal from midnight new years day , to 1:00 AM new years day.

Problem solved :)

Well, I guess it depends if they meant to have a 25 hour sale starting actually at midnight of New Year's Eve and running one hour into New Year's morning, or if they had a ONE hour sale from midnight to 1 AM on New Year's morning (what a lame time for a sale if that's really what they meant...I can hear the managers at the staff meeting for that one: "Yep, we're going to have a sale, during the one hour we're guaranteed nobody is going to be out buying videos." I feel bad for the poor schmuck who had to work that night because there was a sale so they couldn't just close early when there were no customers.)
 
  • #38
Monique said:
midnight is 00:00 hours, thus AM :rollseyes:


but technically 00:00 on the 25th December is equivalent to 24:00 on the 24th December.. :rolleyes:

But you never see 24:01 on a clock? Or 24:00 for that matter.

After 24 hours you must start a new day.
 
  • #39
12:00AM= Midnight. As French is, Minuit. Mid-day is Midi.
 
  • #40
Post Meridian and Ante Meridian is only used in USA rest of the World uses 24 hour time, so..midnight is 00:00 hr.
 
  • #41
I think this thread should be retitled: Semantics

Why? Because that's what we're really arguing.

Noon and midnight are completely arbitrary times that we humans created to satiate our anal retentive need to clearly define when one day ended and another day began. Although noon and midnight loosely correspond to the sun being at it's highest and lowest points relative to the observer, this 'time' changes daily.

However, the common usage in the US is for 12 AM to be the start of a day and 12 PM to be noon on that day.

Thus, your sale that started at 12 AM on New Year's Even and ended at 1 AM on New Year's Day was indeed a 25 hour sale... although the language can be quite confusing...

When, oh when, will the US switch to the 00:00 to 23:59 time system?

Cheers...
 
  • #42
tumor said:
Post Meridian and Ante Meridian is only used in USA rest of the World uses 24 hour time, so..midnight is 00:00 hr.

24 hour time is much easier. I use it in the lab, and sometimes forget to not use it outside the lab, which confuses people. Since I have done experiments that have run 24 hours or longer, and have required helpers at noon and midnight, just to be 100% certain there was no confusion, I just put a note next to the clock time that says "midnight" or "noon" where appropriate. The only other time life gets confusing is when one of those overnight experiments is running the night the clocks change from daylight savings time to standard time or back again. I really wish daylight savings time could be banished. Then I end up having to explain to the lab that the lab is going to live in a time warp until the experiment is done. It's even more fun in the animal facility trying to explain to a group of technicians (people basically paid to clean cages for a living) that the animals don't care about daylight savings time, but they will care about their lights suddenly going on or off an hour later or earlier if the technicians run around changing the clocks timing the light schedule.

So, yep, I'd love to see everyone switch to 24 hour time and do away with daylight savings time.
 
  • #43
Have them change the sign to:
We open at lim[x -> 00:00+](X AM)
 
  • #44
This question is sort of like that question in the year 2000..."Is 2000 the start of the new millenia, or the end?" To answer that question, the whole 2000 calendar year was still in the 20th century. The year 2001 was the beginning of the new century and millenium. I believe the first year was 1 A.D. and not 0 A.D. Time, however starts at 0, and therefore the new day starts at 0, that is 12:00 AM.
 
  • #45
Technically, you can write 12:00 M for noon, and 12:00AM or 12:00PM for midnight since midnight is both before and adfter noon.
 
  • #46
Is the average time on Earth 0:00 or 12:00?
 
  • #47
Moonbear said:
I really wish daylight savings time could be banished.

I know a chemist who refuses to use daylight savings time, not only in the lab but for everything in his life. He prohibits his family from changing the clocks in their house from GMT. He's very, very strange, and has a big white beard. He drives a Volvo with moss growing on its roof. I think one day he's going to live on the top of a cliff in a little white shed with only a snail for company, and only toast for sustenance.
 
  • #48
brewnog said:
I know a chemist who refuses to use daylight savings time, not only in the lab but for everything in his life. He prohibits his family from changing the clocks in their house from GMT. He's very, very strange, and has a big white beard. He drives a Volvo with moss growing on its roof. I think one day he's going to live on the top of a cliff in a little white shed with only a snail for company, and only toast for sustenance.

I've known more than a few "eccentric" chemists. I think it's all those toxic chemicals they play with. :eek:
 
  • #49
but is actually a physicist who wants to change the calendar. I'm a chemist and I think physicists are more strange...lol

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6835
 
  • #50
ConcealedDreamer said:
12:00AM= Midnight. As French is, Minuit. Mid-day is Midi.

Heck, this sounds unlogical to me, 0:00AM should be midnight and non-existent 12:00AM=0:00PM=midi.
Lucky me I don't live in the states, that's for sure! Long live 0:00-lim_{t->24:00}(t) (No offense to the latin language though :wink: )
 

Similar threads

What is the Difference Between 12:00 AM and 12:00 PM?
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
6K
Graduate Understanding NOAA and Naval Observatory's Solar Calculations
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
9K
What Are the Few Worldwide Standards We All Agree On?
  • · Replies 29 ·
Replies
29
Views
3K
Stargazing Join the occult (Dec. 7th/8th, Moon will occult Mars.)
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Inquiry about my time management and planning skills
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Stationary points classification using definiteness of the Lagrangian
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Graduate How to show spin ##= \pm 2/\omega## for a circ-polarized gravity wave
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
1K
MHB How Can One Demonstrate the Ratio Between the Hypotenuses of Two Triangles?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
High School How to find true north not magnetic north?
  • · Replies 67 ·
3
Replies
67
Views
7K
Does anyone have any tips for labs/tutorials?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K