How can they show us the passage of time? And how is it so exact?
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It’s actually very simple, clocks are devices that consume some form of energy. For example, the energy in a coiled spring (for wristwatches) or a huge weight attached to a chain ([grandfather clocks](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/–oAAOSwm3hisKKs/s-l1600.jpg) for example).
So normally a spring would unwind, or a weight would move downwards, at the maximum speed that the mechanism allows for. So for a clock, the trick is to have a [limiter mechanism](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Anchor_escapement_animation_217x328px.gif) in the clock to control how fast the energy is consumed, how fast the spring uncoils, how fast the weights are allowed to move downwards.
And it’s just a matter of getting that limiter mechanism “tuned” to an exact second. Either by precision manufacturing, or by using something that only oscillates at a certain frequency (number of beats per second). One such device is a [pendulum](https://www.sciencefacts.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Simple-Pendulum.jpg), a pendulum’s back and forth motion depends very precisely on its length / dimensions. Another such device is a spring with a flywheel, the inertia of the flywheel depends very precisely on its dimensions and weight, so it will oscillate at precise intervals.
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