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Atomic Clock Thermometer: Telling A Lot More Than The Time Of Day

October 1st, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Most people are aware of the fact that atomic clocks are able to provide the most accurate time and they are able to do so because of measuring time through keeping track of vibrations within certain atoms. A special kind of atomic clock that has recently found many buyers is the atomic clock thermometer that can provide accurate readings about current temperature and even humidity levels, and of course, can also provide the most accurate time as well.

Helps Travelers

One of the reasons that atomic clock thermometers are very popular is that they help travelers know the time, temperature as well as humidity and that in turn means being able to dress according to conditions in the outdoors. There are different types of atomic clock thermometers and among these are those that work without needing any wires to connect the thermometer or hygrometer or even the barometer.

You can use an atomic clock thermometer to measure the temperature within a home or outside the home and such clocks can also display relative humidity and air pressure as well as show pressure trends. Some models of the atomic clock thermometer also have UV sensors that help to display the quality of indoor air and will also provide information about pollen dust as well as other forms of airborne matter.

If you like, you can choose to buy an atomic clock thermometer that can be mounted on a wall or you may want to choose one that stands on its own. Such clocks also have their own menu (interactive) that displays information regarding rainfall in the previous hour and even in the past twenty-four hours, and it can also show history of rainfall during the week gone by as well as for the last month.

It is also possible to buy an atomic clock thermometer that can also provide information about the speed and direction as well as gust of wind and they can also display various symbols signifying various weather conditions including sunny weather, cloudy weather, fair weather and rainy weather.

It is also possible to connect an atomic clock thermometer to a personal computer in order to gather information regarding weather conditions, which can then be analyzed as well as studied to obtain more insights about the weather in your immediate vicinity.

Another option in atomic clocks is the world atomic clock that provides you with the most accurate time no matter in which part of the world you happen to be.

Some advanced atomic clock thermometers are even capable of predicting snowfall or fog or even frost and they even have alarm systems which can be pre-set to different temperatures – both for within the home as well as without it.

The Modern Watches and Precise Clocks (Part 5 of 5)

September 28th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

In the evolution of watch and clock making, mechanical clocks became the foundation upon which other types of watches and clocks were made. The theory that a mechanical mechanism could “tick” of time in specific, set increments is the basis of both the quartz watch and the atomic clock.

The Quartz Watch

The Americans, Swiss and Japanese all played a part in the invention of the quartz watch. One of the first quartz watches ever built for mass market distribution was made by the Sinclair Company. It had the right idea, using quartz crystals to complete an electrical circuit that would move a mechanical movement in precise increments, but the outer casing and primitive use of the quartz proved disastrous.

Sinclair’s “Black Watch” was a digital model quartz watch that was introduced in 1975. It had all kinds of problems from losing or gaining time during the changes in hot and cold weather to creating static that would affect its time keeping abilities simply by walking on nylon carpet or having static due to clothing or air conditioning. In addition, it had a battery that could only hold a charge for 10 days. There appeared to be as many returns of this watch as there were sales!

The quartz watch was still a desirable option to explore and many other companies had models of digital quartz watches in the experimental stages and ready to sell. However, the reliable early quartz watches were still about $125 or more — very expensive for the mid-1970s. These newer, more expensive watches were at least able to keep good time. In fact all well-made quartz watches kept very accurate time and in 1976 Texas Instruments introduced a model at the Chicago Consumer Electronic Show that could be produced in mass quantities for a mere $20.

The makings of a quartz watch started with the first watch battery in 1954. Next came the development of the integrated circuit in 1959. With light-emitting diodes (LED)being developed around 1962, all of the elements were in place for a digital quartz watch. In fact, the very first prototype, the Beta 21, came out in 1967. The development of liquid crystal displays (LCD) in 1968 gave digital watches the look they have today. Pulsar is credited with creating the first digital watch in 1970.

The Atomic Clock

Universal time is measured by an atomic clock which runs by using the element, cesium, to keep it going. Just one gram of cesium is enough of a “fuel” to run an atomic clock for one year. Cesium is found in granite and the one gram supply can be extracted from a piece of granite that is about a cubic foot in size.

This silvery metal is in liquid form at room temperature and is considered the most electropositive and alkaline element in the periodic table. It is used as a catalyst in photoelectric cells to react with hydrogen and create the necessary movement of the atoms which create a microwave frequency and natural resonance to define a single second. This cycle used to measure a second is actually made up of exactly 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the cesium atom’s resonant frequency.

Of course the atomic clock is not the type of clock one keeps in their home, but it is the national standard for keeping time in America. For home use, today’s quartz clocks and watches offer a highly precise way of keeping time.

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Thomas Young is a watch collector. Visit http://www.internationalwatchclub.com for information on over 200 different brands of watches, including popular brands like Citizen Watch and Rolex Watch. It is purely an informational site.

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