Is 0000 considered a.m. or p.m.?

it is AM
Same as 2400
Comes from the term ante meridiem (a.m.) means before midday and post meridiem (p.m.) means after midday

It’s AM.

I stay far away from Reddit arguments. They are never helpful.

Well, I thought it went from 2400 to 0001. That would be clearer.

0000 and 2400 are interchangable
you can go from 2359 to 0000. then to 0001
as well as 2359 to 2400. then to 0001

It is in a quantum superposition of both AM and PM.

I also think it’s weird to see 12:00 noon referred to as PM, coming right after 11:59 AM. 12:00 is noon. 12:01 is p.m. (And even that starts to look weird when you think about it.)

If 11:59 is ante-meridian and 12:01 is post-meridian than 0000 should be meridian

@janbb You’ve almost got it. Meridian is noon. 0000 is midnight.

^^ True but there should be a term like that for it.

It is Midnight. And 1200 in military time is Noon. Notice I capitalized those terms. They are neither AM or PM.. Attempts to define them as AM or PM are anti-intellectual.

@zenvelo Or post-intellectual?

It’s midnight or am in my opinion if you make me choose. 12:00 midnight is 12:00am.

If it is the end of your day it might be more logical to use 2400 and think of it as pm. For instance “I was there from 1600 hours to 2400.” As opposed to “we started at 0000 and didn’t finish until 0800 hours.”

I’ve seen 0000 used more, but I rarely come across it anyway.

According to the Soldiers Project 2400 signifies the “end of day” where 0000 signifies the “beginning of a new day”. In the military, BOTH are acceptable. I seem to remember reading that when the general population in the US began using military time because they became too lazy to add am or pm to their time, many were confused when the time jumped from 2400 to 0001, so it was standardized to automatically to be considered a “new day” & 2400 was converted to 0000 being the standard usage. 2400 is considered midnight & 0000 is 12:00 am or the beginning of a “new day”. Then 1200 is called “Noon” or 12:00pm because it’s leading you into night. I can’t believe that people are still arguing over this. Then again, it is a good distraction over what ails the country/world!!!

Since 0000 is exactly at the transition, maybe it’s better to look at 1 sec after. Then it would clearly be am.

@LadyMarissa I seem to remember reading that when the general population in the US began using military time because they became too lazy to add am or pm to their time

That doesn’t sound correct at all. Americans don’t use military time. I think they don’t, because so many Americans are terrible at math and it is too confusing for them or resistance to change. Just my guess. Old fashioned analog time pieces just had 12 on the dial usually.

Europe uses military time, not America, except for military and pilots and sea captains, because they use not only military time, but also zulu time.

It’s AM. 12pm is ‘noon’. Midnight is AM, whether you call it 00:00 or 24:00 or 12:00am.

I really wish we would adopt the metric system and military time. They make more sense. I feel like am/pm is only advantageous for analog clocks. But there seems to be no one even expressing mild interest in taking another crack at this. And given how polarized we are in America right now, any proposal to do it would have no chance. I mean, for goodness’ sake, we can’t even pass ‘no-brainer’ legislation right now without a cat fight in congress.

If 4 cars arrive at a 4-way stop at the same time. Then which car goes first?

@gondwanalon Lol, the one on the right.

@Entropy Forget it. I am pretty sure the US population is now stupider than in the 1970’s. I was in school in the ‘70’s when we were supposed to transition to metric, so we were learning both. I assume kids still learn some metric, but I don’t know how much time is spent on it these days. Would be nice, but I don’t see it happening. Who knows, I guess it could become a hot topic again. If abortion gets resolved, and climate change, and birthright citizenship, then they will need a new wedge issue, and why not measurements.

If AM if before M, and PM is after M, why isn’t the time between them, M?

0000 is the same as 0001 – AM

@gondwanalon This was a question on my Drivers Ed written test back in the day. There is logic behind the rules for this kind of situation also.

Who needs clocks, we have the sun. The troubles with advances in technology. Oh the humanity!

@Forever_Free The test question is usually if two cars arrive at the same time at a four-way stop. The answer is the one on the left yields the right of way to the car on the right. That’s why I wrote jokingly the one on the right goes first.

But, obviously, realistically, like my driver’s ed teacher told me at age 15: The drivers look at each other and wave each other on or move a little, but don’t gun the gas until you know for sure it’s safe to go.

0000 is AM. It is the start of the new day. You can use 2400 but it is the same time. The military allows both but prefers 0000 for consistency.

I remember a similar question about an ambulance, fire truck, mail truck and police car all arriving at the intersection at the same time. Which one has priority?
I’ll let someone else figure it out.

^^^^ @LuckyGuy Everyone knows “the mail must go through”!

Suppose that 0000 was PM. One microsecond after midnight it is AM, but the clock still reads 0000. It makes so much more sense to have 0000 as AM.

And there is the added complication of leap seconds. but let’s leave them out for now.

@LostInParadise I go with the fire truck, because (a) it’s likely to be bigger and heavier and more likely to damage the other vehicles, and (b) likely to have more flashing lights and a louder signal horn.

But the ambulance would be a close second.

@elbanditoroso
The pigs, obviously, because the actual public servants do not want to get shot.

@JLeslie Yes, I was laughing at the concept of the 4 cars all yielding to the one on the right.

We also know that somebody thinks they were stopped first.

@LostInParadise “0000 is the same as 0001 – AM”
– What? That’s ridiculous, and makes no sense. (So, is 0030 hours equivalent to 12:30 or 12:29?)

I should have phrased my statement differently. What I meant to say was that two times with the same hour should both be AM or both be PM. It makes no sense to say that the stroke of midnight at 0000 should be PM, but a microsecond afterward, with the clock still showing 0000, should be AM. It is equally absurd to say that from 0000 to the instant before 0001 it is PM, but at 0001 we have AM. We avoid this nonsense by having all times 00XX as AM.

@LuckyGuy I heard that the mail truck has priority.

@LostInParadise 2399 is PM. 2400 or 0000, both are Midnight; neither a.m. or p.m.

And what is 1200 ? Midday? Noon? Just as 0000 is AM, 1200 is PM

@LostInParadise Noon.. Neither a.m. or p.m. Those who think otherwise are innumerate.

@zenvelo a timely observation.

2400 does not exist on our 24/7 clocks. 00:00:01–23:59:59.