Ever been late to class because your class was two minutes off?
Being a student can be stressful at times, but managing your time is a specific skill that we all will learn throughout our times in college.
If you're looking to get an edge with time management and keeping that extra minute, Britain's National Physical laboratory (NPL) contains the world's most accurate atomic clock, which is guaranteed your on time* to every class.
Based upon ideas in atomic physics, this "caesium fountain clock" is so accurate that it will not stray more than one second in 138 million years; this nearly doubled the accuracy measured in 2010.
How does it work you ask? Well, "the "tick" is provided by the measurement of the energy required to change the caesium atoms' spin. Caesium atoms are placed into a cavity, and exposed to electromagnetic radiation of different wavelengths. Once the spin "flips", the waves are at the right frequency to define what a second is."
Recall that frequency is measured in the unit hertz, Hz. In this case, the frequency was measured at 9.2GHz or written out, 9,192,631,770 Hz! "When the spin flips, the clock operators can set the frequency at that point, and work backward to determine the exact length of a second."
So, the next time you go to set your watch, feel free to set it according to the British Atomic Clock: http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/world-clock/ . You will never be late to class again!
*on time is five minutes early
Resources:
Interesting because I know I don't usually take the time to even consider that my clock is inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteOk, I need one for my wrist.
ReplyDelete