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Dave
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  • じゅう (or, rarely: ぢゅう) is used for expressions covering a length of time (resp. area) from start to finish, in its entirety. I.e. "through", "all of":

一年中【いちねんじゅう】all year

一日中【いちにちじゅう】all day

世界中【せかいじゅう】all over the world

  • ちゅう is for pointing a particular time (resp. specific location) out of an interval (resp. general area). I.e. "out of", "during":

午前中【ごぜんちゅう】[at some point] during morning

会議中【かいぎちゅう】in a meeting [e.g. "he is in a meeting at the moment"]

Note that in some cases, both can be used and the only way to tell would be from context (e.g. an expression followed by に is more likely to be ちゅう) or in speech:

来月中【らいげつじゅう】all of next month

来月中【らいげつちゅう】[some time] next month

Dave
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