Determining whether a year is a leap year is relatively straightforward, and it relies on a few key rules from the Gregorian calendar.
1. **Divisibility by 4**: The first rule is that the year must be divisible by 4. For instance, 2020 is divisible by 4, while 2021 is not.
2. **Century years**: However, if the year is a century year (like 1900 or 2000), you must also check if it is divisible by 100. A century year is not a leap year unless it is also divisible by 400. So, while 2000 is a leap year, 1900 is not.
Putting these rules together, to determine if a year is a leap year:
- First, check if the year is divisible by 4.
- If it is, then check if it is divisible by 100.
- If it is also divisible by 100, check if it is divisible by 400.
For example:
- 2024: Divisible by 4 (yes), divisible by 100 (no) -> Leap year.
- 1900: Divisible by 4 (yes), divisible by 100 (yes), divisible by 400 (no) -> Not a leap year.
- 2000: Divisible by 4 (yes), divisible by 100 (yes), divisible by 400 (yes) -> Leap year.
By following these simple steps, you can easily identify whether any given year is a leap year!