The mathematics of sundials

Jill Vincent
University of Melbourne
<[email protected]>

s early as 3500 years ago, shadows of sticks were used as a primitive

instrument for indicating the passage of time through the day. The stick
came to be called a gnomon or one who knows. Early Babylonian obelisks
were designed to determine noon. The development of trigonometry by
Greek mathematicians meant that hour lines could be determined
arithmetically rather than by geometry, leading to more sophisticated
sundials. In the first century CE, the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius
described several types of sundials in his De Architectura (Lennox-Boyd, 2006,
p. 32), including hemispherical, conical and planar dials. Sundials are often
constructed to commemorate special events, for example, the Bicentennial
Park sundial in Sydney. The many common designs of sundials, such as
vertical, horizontal and analemmatic dials, can all be derived by projections
of the basic equatorial dial (Lennox-Boyd, 2006). In this article I show how
trigonometry can be used to calculate the positions of the hour lines for
vertical and horizontal sundials, with a particular focus on the mathematics
underlying a recently-constructed unique horizontal sundial at Piazza Italia in
Melbourne. The words vertical and horizontal are used in their normal
sense, that is, in the direction of gravity and at right angles to this.

Let us imagine the Earth as a giant sundial (Figure 1). The Earths
axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5 to the plane of its orbit around the
Sun. As the Earth rotates on its axis, the shadow of a vertical stick at
the pole would form a circle on the surface of the Earth parallel to
the equator. If the circle is divided into 24 equal hour marks, the
position of the shadow around the circle would give the time.
Sundials based on this principle are called equatorial sundials.
In any sundial, the part that casts the shadow is called the
gnomon. For an equatorial sundial, the gnomon must be parallel to
the Earths axis. In Figure 2, P is in the southern hemisphere at lati-

Figure 1. Representing the

Earth as a giant sundial.

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

Equatorial sundials

13

Vincent

tude L. The diagram shows why the angle that the gnomon makes with the
horizontal is equal to the latitude. The dial with the hour marks must be
perpendicular to the gnomon. In the southern hemisphere the gnomon will
point to the south celestial pole (in the northern hemisphere, it points
towards the pole star).

Figure 2. Inclination of the dial and gnomon of an equatorial sundial.

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

Figure 3 shows an equatorial sundial for the southern hemisphere, with

the gnomon making an angle with the horizontal equal to the latitude. The
hour lines are equally spaced, with 15 intervals. At midsummer the Sun is
directly in line with the gnomon so there is no shadow. Between the spring
equinox (22 September) and the autumn equinox (22 March), the shadow
falls on the upper face of the dial. Between 22 March and 22 September, when
the Sun is lower in the sky, the shadow falls on the under side. The equatorial
sundial therefore needs a face on both sides.

14

Figure 3. Equatorial sundial for the southern hemisphere.

Vertical sundial
For a vertical sundial, the circular equatorial dial is projected onto a vertical
plane as an ellipse. The semi-major axis, a, is the radius of the equatorial dial.
If b is the semi-minor axis of the ellipse,

The mathematics of sundials

Figure 4. Projection of the equatorial dial to form the ellipse of the vertical dial.

The gnomon of the vertical

sundial makes an angle of 90L
with the vertical (that is, an angle L
with the horizontal), as shown in
the side view in Figure 5.

Calculating the angle hours

for the vertical sundial

Figure 5. Side view of gnomon of vertical sundial.

Figure 6. Relationship between the hour angle T of the

equatorial dial and the projected hour angle H of the vertical
dial.

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

In the southern hemisphere, the

vertical dial is north-facing. Unlike
the equatorial dial, the hour angles
are not equally spaced. In Figure 6,
angle T is the hour angle measured
from the northsouth line around
the equatorial dial. For example, at
11 am, T = 15, at 10 am, T = 30,
and so on. Angle H is the projected
hour angle on the ellipse of the
vertical dial. Using the equation for
an ellipse and applying trigonometry in triangles OAC and OBC, we
can find H in terms of L and T.

15

Vincent

Equation for the ellipse is:

but:

Note that

are the parametric equations for the ellipse.

From OBC

The hour angles, H, for 6 am to 12 noon for a vertical dial in Melbourne

(latitude 37.7) are shown in Table 1. The angles are symmetrical about the
noon line for 1 pm to 6 pm.
Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

Table 1

16

Time

T ()

H ()

12 noon

0.0

11 am

15

12.0

10 am

30

24.6

9 am

45

38.4

8 am

60

53.9

7 am

75

71.3

6 am

90

90.0

Figure 7. Hour angles for vertical sundial.

The mathematics of sundials

Figure 8 shows a vertical sundial on the almost north-facing wall of Box

Hill Library in Melbournes eastern suburbs. The shadow indicates the time
is approximately 10:20 am.

Figure 8. Vertical sundial on Box Hill Library, Victoria.

Horizontal sundials
For a horizontal sundial, the circular equatorial dial is projected onto a horizontal plane as an ellipse (Figure 9). As for the equatorial and vertical
sundials, the gnomon makes an angle L with the horizontal. The semi-minor
(eastwest) axis is a, the radius of the equatorial dial. If b is the semi-major
(northsouth) axis of the ellipse,

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

Figure 9. Horizontal projection of the equatorial dial parallel to the Earths axis.

17

Vincent

Calculating the hour angles for the horizontal sundial

In Figure 10, angle T is the hour angle measured from the northsouth line
around the equatorial dial. Angle H is the projected hour angle on the ellipse
of the horizontal dial. Using the same approach as for the vertical sundial, the
parametric equations for the ellipse for the horizontal sundial are

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

The hour angles are given by

18

Figure 10. Relationship between the hour angle T of the equatorial dial
and the projected hour angle H of the horizontal dial.

The hour angles, H, for a horizontal sundial in Melbourne are shown

in Table 2. The latitude 37.7 has
been used. For 11 am, for example,
H = tan1(tan15sin37.7) 9.3.
Unlike the vertical sundial, the
numbers are anticlockwise for a
horizontal sundial in the southern
hemisphere. Figure 11 shows the
spacing of the hour angles for the
horizontal sundial for Melbourne.

Table 2. Hour angles for a horizontal sundial in

Melbourne

Time

T ()

H ()

6 am

90

90.0

7 am

75

66.3

8 am

60

46.6

9 am

45

31.4

10 am

30

19.4

11 am

15

9.3

12 noon

0.0

The mathematics of sundials

Figure 11. Spacing of hour lines for a horizontal sundial in Melbourne.

Garden sundials are typically horizontal dials. A large-scale horizontal

sundial has been constructed in the New South Wales town of Singleton.

Horizontal sundial at Piazza Italia

The horizontal sundial Solaris (see Figure 12) at Piazza Italia in the inner
Melbourne suburb of Carlton has a unique design. Instead of a gnomon set
at the angle of the latitude, a person stands on the northsouth line at a calculated position according to their height and acts as a vertical gnomon.
If we consider a right-angled triangle formed by the human gnomon and
the distance d m from the centre of the sundial at which the person stands,
the hypotenuse of this triangle makes an angle of 37.8028 (the local latitude)
with the horizontal (see Figure 13).

Figure 13. Relationship between height and position.

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

Figure 12. Solaris at Piazza Italia, Carlton.

19

Vincent

For example, for a person of height 1.80 m,

So a person of height 1.8 m would stand on the northsouth line at a position 2.32 m from the centre of the sundial. The positions for heights from
1.00 m to 1.90 m are shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14. Relationship between height of person and position at which they stand.

Intersection of the shadows with the hour lines

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

If the vertical (human) gnomon were to be replaced with a right-angled triangle with its hypotenuse making an angle L with the horizontal, then the
shadow of the hypotenuse at any given hour would fall along the hour line.
The tip of the persons shadow would meet the hour line as shown in
Figure 15.

20

Figure 15. Tip of shadow of human gnomon meets the hour line.

The time at Piazza Italia is therefore indicated by the hour line on which
the tip of the persons shadow falls (see Figure 12).
Figure 16 shows the view from above of the hour line, OP, and the shadow,
GP, of a person standing on the solar clock at G. These two lines intersect at

The mathematics of sundials

P. The coordinates of P can be found by solving simultaneously the equations

for GP and OP. The angle Z (the Suns azimuth) that the shadow of a vertical
gnomon makes with the northsouth line depends on the latitude, the time
of day and the declination of the Sun, which changes through the day and
through the year. Angle Z can be calculated according to the following
formula (Budd & Sangwin, 2000), where T is the angle hour measured clockwise from the northsouth line, L is the latitude, and D is the declination of
the Sun.

Figure 16. Intersection of persons shadow with the hour line.

Equation of hour line OP:

But tan
So

(1)

Substituting for cot Z,

(2)
From equations (1) and (2),

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

Equation of shadow GP:

21

Vincent

Multiplying both sides by sin T sin L,

Substituting to find the y-coordinate of the intersection,

Hence the coordinates of the tip of the persons shadow will be:

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

For Solaris, L = 37.8. Figure 17 shows a plot of the hour lines and the positions of the shadow tip during the day for the equinoxes and the summer and
winter solstices (D = 0, 23.5 and 23.5 respectively) for a person of height
1.80 m standing at G (0, 2.32).

22

Figure 17. Solaris hour lines and the positions of the shadow tip during the day for the equinoxes and
the summer and winter solstices.

The mathematics of sundials

The time indicated by Solaris is the solar time at Piazza Italia. Melbournes
longitude is approximately 5 west of the Australian Eastern Standard Time
(AEST) meridian. If the Earth rotates 15 degrees every hour, 5 degrees corresponds to 20 minutes, that is, local solar time in Melbourne is approximately
20 minutes behind AEST, so 20 minutes must be added to the time indicated
by Solaris.

Analemmatic sundials
A further type of sundial is the analemmatic dial, which has a horizontal dial
and a vertical gnomon. Like the horizontal sundial, the analemmatic sundial
is derived from an equatorial sundial by projecting the equatorial ring onto a
horizontal plane, but it is an orthogonal projection onto the horizontal plane
rather than in the direction of the Earths axis. Examples of interactive
analemmatic sundials are to be found at the Mount Annan site of the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Sydney and at Torquay in Victoria.

Corrections to be applied to sundial time

Reference has been made already to the need for correcting sundial time for
the local longitude if that differs from the longitude on which local time is
based. Sundial time also needs to be adjusted slightly for two further reasons:
the Earths path as it revolves around the Sun is an ellipse, rather than
a circle and the Sun is not quite at the centre of the ellipse.
the Earths axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5 to the plane of the elliptical orbit.

References
Budd, C. J. & Sangwin, C. J. (2000). Analemmatic Sundials: How to Build One and Why They
Work. Accessed August 2007 at http://plus.maths.org/issue11/features/sundials.
Lennox-Boyd, M. (2006). Sundials: History, Art, People, Science. London: Frances Lincoln.

Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 22 (1)

Budd, C. J. & Sangwin, C. J. (2001). Mathematics Galore. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

23