Seconds and Standardized Clocks
I never really thought about the definition of a second until now. I always thought of a second as a measurement of time but nothing deeper than that. A minute is 60 seconds and that is all I ever thought about seconds. In Eran Hal's article "Making Time: A Study in the Epistemology of Measurement" a second is defined as "the duration of exactly 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to a hyperfine transition of caesium-133 in the ground state (BIPM [2006], p. 113)." This is the first time I realized how much science and math go into things like seconds and time. A common misunderstanding is that clocks measure time, this is incorrect they measure a passage of time. Standard clocks measure more than just a passage of time. Standard clocks measure frequencies that correlate to atomic transitions. These clocks are standardized by coordinated universal time or UTC.
Hey Gavin
ReplyDeleteDo you think time should be standardized? Or Is it already? Do you agree that constructivism is the correct approach for looking at time? Also you mentioned atomic transitions relating to electrons jumping from energy levels producing a quanta (packet of energy). I would look into the atomic clock idea that is a true thing and is located in Colorado, it is a pretty cool invention.
Hi Gavin,
ReplyDeleteI also never really thought to deep into the topic before reading this, but now after it really got me thinking. What truly is a second? It is a period of radiation, but then what is that? This is an ongoing cycle of deetermining what things are which honestly gets confusing to me.
Hi Gavin,
ReplyDeleteI also never thought of second any other way than there is 60 second in one minute. The article makes it clear that it is much more than that, and that a lot of work went into creating a standard second. Can a clock become perfectly stable?
I never really thought about time or the true definition of a second, but now you made me think about it. I also never really thought about time or what it means. Now knowing what I know from the article I think it’s interesting how time is measured. It also makes you wonder about the standardization of time.
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