Solar time is a calculation of the passage of time based on the position of the Sun in the sky. The fundamental unit of solar time is the day. Two types of solar time are apparent solar time (sundial time) and mean solar time (clock time).

A tall pole vertically fixed in the ground casts a shadow on any sunny day. At one moment during the day, the shadow will point exactly north or south (or disappear when and if the Sun moves directly overhead). That instant is local apparent noon, or 12:00 local apparent time. About 24 hours later the shadow will again point north/south, the Sun seeming to have covered a 360-degree arc around the Earth's axis. When the Sun has covered exactly 15 degrees (1/24 of a circle, both angles being measured in a plane perpendicular to the Earth's axis), local apparent time is 13:00 exactly; after 15 more degrees it will be 14:00 exactly.

The problem is that in September the Sun takes less time (as measured by an accurate clock) to make an apparent revolution than it does in December; 24 "hours" of solar time can be 21 seconds less or 29 seconds more than 24 hours of clock time. As explained in the equation of time article, this is due to the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit (i.e. the Earth's orbit is not perfectly circular, meaning that the Earth-Sun distance varies throughout the year), and the fact that the Earth's axis is not perpendicular to the plane of its orbit (the so-called obliquity of the ecliptic). What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Solar time is based on what?
2. How many kinds of it are there?
3. Can you name one of them?
4. Please name one of them
5. What's another name for that one?
6. Please name the other kind of solar time?
7. Wjat's another name for that kind?
8. Does the sun take less time to get all the way around in September than in December?
9. How many seconds more than 24 hours clock time can solar time be?
10. How many less?
11. This is because of what?
12. Does that mean the Earth's orbit is a perfect circle?
13. What does it mean?
14. Is the Earh's axis perpendicular to the plane of its orbit?
15. Is there another name for that?
16. What is it?
17. The shadow of a pole in sun points in how many possible directions?
18. Does it ever dissappear?
19. When?
20. Does the author like sun dials?
Answer: 1. the position of the Sun in the sky
2. Two
3. yes
4. apparent solar time
5. sundial time
6. mean solar time
7. clock time
8. yes
9. up to 29 seconds
10. up to 21 seconds less
11. the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit
12. no
13. the distance between Earth and Sun varies throughout the year
14. no
15. yes
16. obliquity of the ecliptic
17. 360
18. yes
19. when the Sun is directly overhead
20. unknown

(CNN)The passing of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz may not have come as a surprise -- his health had deteriorated in recent years -- but until the very end, the monarch was determined to leave an indelible imprint on the throne by articulating and implementing a clear vision for the country.

Abdullah also seemed to possess the political acumen necessary to adjust to the changing needs and increased political awareness of the Saudi populace, as well as to the shifting political realities in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Abdullah didn't officially ascend until 2005, but he had been the de facto king since 1995, when his predecessor and half-brother Fahd's health started failing. It was Abdullah who had to steady the ship during the tumultuous aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States and subsequent terrorist attacks inside the kingdom in 2003 and 2004.

The specter of terrorism not only forced some to question the foundation of Saudi Arabia's "special" relationship with the US, but also posed a serious threat to the stability of the regime by challenging its Islamic bona fides on which its entire claim to legitimacy rests.

Although it was the late Interior Minister Naif Bin Abdulaziz and his successor who devised the kingdom's multi-pronged counter-terrorism strategy -- part security operation, part public awareness campaign -- that largely contained the threat from al Qaeda, Abdullah's resoluteness and assurances to Saudis and the international community should not be underestimated.

Many might remember Abdullah for his foreign policy initiatives, including his plan for comprehensive peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors -- adopted first by the Arab League in 2002 and then again 2007 -- or his efforts to foster interfaith understanding by sponsoring international forums aimed at bringing together followers of various religions to stress their shared values, as his meeting with Pope Benedict in 2009 illustrated. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. what did Abdullan possess?
2. what did he need this for?
3. was his death a surprise?
4. why not?
5. when did he come to power?
6. when did it become offical?
7. who came up with the counter terrorism plan?
8. what were the parts of this plan?
9. what was Abdullahs goal until the end?
10. how did he want to do this?
11. who was ruler before him?
12. what might many remember Abdullah for?
13. what plan did this include?
14. what else?
15. who did he meet with in 2009?
16. what did this show?
17. how did he do this?
Answer:
1. political acumen
2. to adjust to the changing needs and increased political awareness of the Saudi populac
3. no
4. his health had deteriorated in recent years
5. 1995
6. 2005
7. Interior Minister Naif Bin Abdulaziz
8. part security operation, part public awareness campaign
9. to leave an indelible imprint on the throne
10. by articulating and implementing a clear vision for the country
11. Fahd
12. foreign policy intiatives
13. peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors
14. his efforts to foster interfaith understanding
15. Pope Benedict
16. his efforts to foster interfaith understanding
17. by sponsoring international forums