Are you wondering whether 1 0’ clock in the afternoon is in the morning or during the day? Specifically, am or pm . Here’s the hours method
1 o’clock in the afternoon is definitely in the pm division, expressed as 1 PM. 1 in the morning, for that matter, is written as 1 AM. PM denotes times during the afternoon and evening, while AM denotes times during midnight and the morning. Both PM and AM are very good ways to indicate time.
12-hour Clock Format VS 24-hour Clock Format?
The 12-hour format
AM and PM are used in what is called the 12-hour clock format. The 12-hour clock format divides the day, or the 24 hours of the day, into two halves of 12-hour periods. All 24 hours of the day are identified by numbers 1 to 12, followed by AM or PM.
The first half is AM. It begins at the first hour of midnight, at 12 or 00h00, runs throughout the morning, and ends 12 hours later at 11h59.
The second half is the afternoon, evening, and nighttime. The hours of the second half of the day are denoted with PM (example: 12 pm, 1 pm, and so on). Hours denoted by PM start at 12 noon, run through evening and night, and end 12 hours later at exactly 11h59 at night.
AM and PM are abbreviations that derive from the Latin terms; Ante meridiem (AM), meaning before noon, and Post meridiem (PM), meaning afternoon.
Both AM and PM are denoted in various ways. AM can be written as a.m, am, and A.M. PM can be denoted as p.m, pm, and P.M.
Why Are These Terms Confusing?
One of the main reasons people tend to get confused is about which terms, before noon and afternoon, to use when referring to a specific moment.
For example, the hour preceding noon (that is, AM) cannot be referred to as before noon, as AM hours begin 12 hours after the start of the 12 noon of the previous day, and start 12 hours before the start of noon.
Many people simply prefer to use noon, and not afternoon, for example, “12 noon,” to avoid confusion.
Another confusion occurs when using the term midnight. For instance, when someone calls you over the phone at midnight Tuesday, are they calling at midnight Tuesday or midnight Wednesday? There is no precise moment of “midnight.”
The 24-hour format
In contrast to the 12-hour system, the 24 hour format identifies the hours of the day with numbers 0 up to 23. There is often an “h” to separate the hour and minutes (example: 12h30), or “:” (example: 12:30). The “h” or “H” stands for hours.
Morning hours
The 24-hour period begins at 00H00 hours and ends at 23h59.
In the 24-hour time format, how morning hours are written is straightforward; 12, midnight, is 00h00, 2 O’clock is 02h00, and 11 O’clock is 11h00. Morning hours last until 11h59.
Afternoon and evening hours
In the 24-hour clock format, afternoon hours start at the 12th hour of the day, that is, 12 hours after midnight or before midnight.
Hours following the 12th hour, or 12h00, increment by 1. Therefore, 1 O’clock in the afternoon is written as 13h00, 4 O’clock as 16H00, and 10 O’clock in the evening as 22H00, and so on.
The last hour of the day ends when the 23rd hour ends after 23h59. After 23h59 is the 24th hour, or midnight, beginning a new day at 00h00.
Note: In this system, AM and PM are not necessary.
Converting The Hours
You can convert AM/PM hours to 24-hour format. Confusion may enter when dealing with the 12th hour.
From 12-hour to 24-hour
To convert to 24-hour format, you add 12 to the hours. For example: to convert 1 pm, add 12 to 1. The answer is 13h00.
The rules apply differently when dealing with 12: do not make any addition when converting 12. 12h00AM becomes 00h00 in the 24-hour system. 12h00PM remains as just 12h00 for the 24-hour format.
12 in the morning for the 12-hour system is written as 12h00, whereas in the 24-hour system it is 00h00. 12 in the afternoon remains the same for both systems: 12h00.
From 24-hour to 12-hour
Converting, in this case, is also a simple procedure, except that now you subtract 12. For example, 14h00 (that’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon) is 14 – 12 = 2, so 14h00 is 2h00PM in the 12-hour system.
Again: the rules apply differently when dealing with 12: do not make any subtraction when converting 12. 00h00 becomes 12h00 AM in the 12-hour system. 12h00 remains as just 12h00, but denoted with PM (12h00PM).
Conclusion
Many countries use either or both systems. 1 O’clock in the afternoon is 1pm, and 1 a.m. means after midnight. You can also calculate the time yourself by applying aforementioned techniques.
