Geodetic Engineer Board Practice Exam 2025 – The All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

In considering the relationship between solar days and sidereal days throughout the year, it's important to understand the definitions of each type of day. A solar day is based on the Earth's rotation relative to the Sun, taking about 24 hours for the Earth to complete one full rotation to the same position relative to the Sun. This results in approximately 365.25 solar days each year, which accounts for the extra quarter of a day that leads to the need for a leap year every four years.

On the other hand, a sidereal day is based on the Earth's rotation relative to distant stars. A complete rotation relative to a fixed star occurs in about 23 hours and 56 minutes. Therefore, there are about 366.25 sidereal days in a year. This is due to the fact that while the Earth makes a complete rotation, it is also orbiting the Sun, which causes the Earth to rotate slightly more than once in a 24-hour period before it aligns again with the Sun.

Thus, both statements about the number of solar and sidereal days in a year are true, making the combined statement true as well.