day and night are caused by

Day and night are caused by the rotation of the Earth on its axis, which makes different parts of the planet face toward or away from the Sun over 24 hours.

What actually causes day and night?

• Earth spins around an imaginary line called its axis, which runs from the North Pole to the South Pole.

• One full spin (rotation) takes about 24 hours, which we call a day.

• The side of Earth facing the Sun has daylight, and the side facing away from the Sun has night.

You can imagine a basketball lit by a lamp: the half facing the lamp is bright (day), the half in shadow is dark (night).

Why does the Sun “move” in the sky?

• The Sun looks like it rises in the east and sets in the west because Earth is spinning from west to east.

• Really, the Sun is almost still relative to us; it is our spinning that makes it appear to cross the sky.

Do seasons affect day and night?

• The basic cause of day and night is rotation, not seasons.

• However, because Earth’s axis is tilted, the length of day and night changes with the seasons (longer days in summer, shorter in winter in each hemisphere).

One-line answer for quick reference

Day and night are caused by the rotation of the Earth on its axis, which makes one side face the Sun (day) while the other side is in shadow (night).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.