12-hour clock
time counting system, divided into two parts: AM and PM From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 12-hour clock is a way of dividing the 24 hours of the day into two sections. The two halves are called ante meridiem (AM) and post meridiem (PM). Both names are from Latin and ante meridiem, means "before midday" and post meridiem means "after midday".[1]
Each period has 12 hours and are numbered 12 (acting as 0), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. Time from midnight to midday is AM and from midday to midnight is PM. The table at right shows how it relates to the 24-hour clock.
1-hour to 11-hour AM (Ante-midday)
12-hour PM (Post-midday)
1-hour to 11-hour PM (Post-midnight)
12-hour AM (Ante-midnight)
The 12-hour time is common in several English-speaking countries and former British colonies (such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the English speaking parts of Canada or India), as well as a few other countries. There is no widely accepted convention for how midday and midnight should be represented: in English-speaking countries, "12 PM" means 12 o'clock noon, while "12 AM" means 12 o'clock midnight.[2][3][4]
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