Afternoon
Afternoon is the time between noon and sunset or evening.[1] It is the time when the sun is descending from its peak in the sky to somewhat before its terminus at the horizon in the west. In human life, it occupies roughly the latter half of the standard work and school day. In literal terms, it refers to a time specifically after noon.
Terminology
Afternoon is often defined as the period between noon and sunset.[2] If this definition is adopted, the specific range of time varies in one direction: noon is defined as the time when the sun reaching its highest point in the sky,[3] but the boundary between afternoon and evening has no standard definition. However, before a period of transition from the 12th to 14th centuries, noon instead referred to 3:00 pm. Possible explanations include shifting times for prayers and midday meals, along which one concept of noon was defined—and so afternoon would have referred to a narrower timeframe.[4]
The word afternoon, which derives from after and noon, has been attested from about the year 1300;
The equivalent of Earth's afternoon on another planet would refer to the time the principal star of that planetary system would be in descent from its prime meridian, as seen from the planet's surface.
Events
Afternoon is a time when the sun is descending from its daytime peak. During the afternoon, the sun moves from roughly the center of the sky to deep in the west. In late afternoon, sunlight is particularly bright and glaring, because the sun is at a low angle in the sky.[8] The standard working time in most industrialized countries goes from the morning to the late afternoon or early evening — archetypally, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm — so the latter part of this time takes place in the afternoon.[9] Schools usually let their students out around 3:00 pm during the mid afternoon.[10] In Denmark, afternoon is considered between 1:00 and 5:00 pm.[11]
Effects on life
Hormones
In
Body temperature
In humans,
Alertness
The afternoon, especially the early afternoon, is associated with a dip in a variety of areas of human cognitive and productive functioning. Notably, motor vehicle accidents occur more frequently in the early afternoon, when drivers presumably have recently finished lunch.[15] A study of motor accidents in Sweden between 1987 and 1991 found that the time around 5:00 pm had by far the most accidents: around 1,600 at 5:00 pm, compared to around 1,000 each at 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. This trend may have been influenced by the afternoon rush hour, but the morning rush hour showed a much smaller increase.[16] In Finland, accidents in the agriculture industry are most common in the afternoon, specifically Monday afternoons in September.[17]
One psychology professor studying
Human productivity routinely decreases in the afternoon. Power plants have shown significant reductions in productivity in the afternoon compared to the morning, the largest differences occurring on Saturdays and the smallest on Mondays.[20] One 1950s study covering two female factory workers for six months found that their productivity was 13 percent lower in the afternoon, the least productive time being their last hour at work. It was summarized that the differences came from personal breaks and unproductive activities at the workplace.[21] Another, larger study found that afternoon declines in productivity were greater during longer work shifts.[22]
Not all humans share identical circadian rhythms. One study across Italy and Spain had students fill out a questionnaire, then ranked them on a "morningness–eveningness" scale. The results were a fairly standard bell curve. Levels of alertness over the course of the day had a significant correlation with scores on the questionnaire. All categories of participants—evening types, morning types, and intermediate types—had high levels of alertness from roughly 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm, but outside this window their alertness levels corresponded to their scores.[23]
See also
- Twilight
- 12-hour clock
- Night owl (person)
References
- ^ "afternoon, n." www.oed.com. Oxford English Dictionary.
- ^ a b "Afternoon". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- ^ "Noon". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- ^ "noon (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. 2001. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
- ^ "afternoon (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. 2001. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
- ^ "Evening". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- ^ Ekirch 2006, p. xxxii
- ^ a b Aggarwal & Upadhyay 2013, p. 172
- ^ "Nine-to-fiver". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- ^ Voght, Kara (2018-09-05). "Why Does the School Day End Two Hours Before the Workday?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
- ^ "eftermiddag — Den Danske Ordbog". ordnet.dk. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ Blaskovich 2011, p. 74
- ^ Sinclair & Weiss 2010, p. 118
- ^ a b c Refinetti 2006, p. 556
- ^ McCabe 2004, p. 588
- ^ Refinetti 2006, p. 559
- ^ McCabe 2004, p. 471
- ^ McCabe 2004, p. 590
- ^ Quartel, Lara (2014). "The effect of the circadian rhythm of body temperature on A-level exam performance". Undergraduate Journal of Psychology. 27 (1).
- ^ Ray 1960, p. 11
- ^ Ray 1960, p. 12
- ^ Ray 1960, p. 18
- ^ Refinetti 2006, p. 561
Sources
- Aggarwal, Anjali; Upadhyay, Ramesh (2013). Heat Stress and Animal Productivity. ISBN 978-8-132-20879-2.
- Blaskovich, Jim (2011). Social Psychophysiology for Social and Personality Psychology. ISBN 978-0-85702-405-3.
- Ekirch, A. Roger (2006). At Day's Close: Night in Times Past. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-32901-8.
- McCabe, Paul T. (2004). Contemporary Ergonomics. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-2342-8.
- Ray, James T. (1960). Human Performance as a Function of the Work–Rest Cycle. National Academy of Sciences.
- Refinetti, Roberto (2006). Circadian Physiology (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-8493-2233-4.
- Sinclair, Thomas M.; Weiss, Albert (2010). Principles of Ecology in Plant Production. University of Nebraska, Lincoln/University of Florida.