In mathematics

In science

• The atomic mass ofsilicon.

• The atomic number ofnickel.

• The fourth magic number in physics.

• The curing time of concrete is classically considered 28 days.

• The average human menstrual cycle is 28 days although no link has been established with the nightlighting and the Moon.

Astronomy

• The apparent rotation time of the surface of the Sun at its equator as viewed from Earth is about 28 days while its core revolves in 33 days.^[12]

• Messier object M28, a magnitude 8.5 globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.

• The New General Catalogue object^[15]NGC 28, an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Phoenix.

In sports

• The number of players on the active roster of teams in Nippon Professional Baseball. However, each team is limited to using 25 players in a given game; before every game, the manager must designate three players who will be ineligible for that game.

In other fields

• An abbreviation for such years as 1928 and 2028.

• In Hebrew Gematria,koakhmeaning “power”, “energy” is a word that corresponds to the number 28.

• The number of Hebrew letters inGenesis 1:1, the first verse of the Bible.

• The number of wheels on a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy.

• In the code for international direct dial phone calls, +28 is unassigned.

• 028 is the ISO 3166-1 numeric three-digit country code for Antigua and Barbuda.

• The number of days in the shortest month of theGregorian calendar, February (except in leap years, when there are twenty-nine). All twelve months of the Gregorian calendar have at least 28 days, regardless of the year.

• TheGregorian calendarfollows a 28-year cycle for the most part, since there are seven days in a week and leap year generally occurs every four years; usually, a calendar from any year is the same as that from 28 years earlier (e.g., 2008 and 1980 or 2009 and 2037). However, that rule holds only when there have been exactly seven leap days in a 28-year interval; years divisible by 100 but not by 400 are common years. Indeed, 1900 (as well as 2100, 2200, etc.) does not use the same calendar as 1872 (2072, 2172, etc., respectively) for the simple reason that 1900 is a common year. In 28 years, any day-of-the-week and date combination occurs exactly four times. February 29 will fall on each day of the week once.

• In Jewish tradition there is a 28-year solar cycle in which the sun returns to its place in Creation every 28 solar years. This is commemorated in April every 28 years with the recitation ofBirkat Hachama, the blessing of the sun.

• The common name for the parrotBarnardius zonarius semitorquatus, widely distributed in Western Australia and South Australia. Its call sounds like “wenniate”.

• The number of letters in the Danish and Swedish alphabets (not counting W), and also in the Arabic and Esperanto alphabets.

• The number of Chinese constellations, “Xiu” or “mansions” (a literal translation), equivalent to the 12 western zodiac constellations.

• The number of dominoes in standard domino sets.

• Deriving from the 29.46 year period of Saturn’s revolution around the Sun, the 28-year cycle as well as its subdivisions by 14 and 7 are supposed inAstrologyto mark significant turning points or sections in the course of a persons development in life. Thus, the number 28 has special significance in the culture of religious sects such as the Kadiri and the Mevlevi dervishes. The 28-beat metric pattern often used in the music compositions accompanying the main part of the Mevlevi sema ritual is called the “Devri kebir”, meaning the “Big Circle” and is a reference to above astronomical facts about the year and the Saturn year.

• In Quebec, François Pérusse, in one of his best-selling Album du peuple made a parody of Wheel of Fortune in which all of the letters picked by the contestant were present 28 times. As a result, 28 became an almost Mythical number used by many Quebec youths, the phrase “Y’en a 28” (There are 28 [Letters]) became a running gag still used and recognized more than 15 years later.

• The Preludes, Opus 28 consists ofFrédéric Chopin‘s 24 preludes for piano, ordinarily but not necessarily played together in concert.

• The postal code of the province of Madrid, in Spain.

• Twenty Eight is a popular game played in Kerala, India.

• The number of the French department Eure-et-Loir.

• Approximately the number of grams in an ounce, and used as such in the illegal drug trade.

• The UIC Country Code for Georgia identifying member countries of the International Union of Railways (UIC).

• The letterQwhen encoding the serial number for intermodal (shipping) containers as defined by ISO 6346.

• The name of a single on theTrilogyby The Weeknd.

• The number of Panfilov’s Guardsmen, said to have heroically fallen in combat on 16 November 1941 during the Battle of Moscow, and venerated as Soviet’s national heroes.

See also

• List of highways numbered 28