How did the first clocks accurately measure seconds?

Question

I understand it might be actually easy for hours, but seconds? Bonus points if you explain how to accurately measure seconds without a clock.

In: Physics

Answer 1

For a long time we’ve known how the length of a pendulum corresponds to the frequency they swing at. So, if we figure out how long a pendulum we need to a period of one second then we can build a clock that uses this pendulum as a reference for how long a second is. [This](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Anchor_escapement_animation_217x328px.gif) gif shows how the motion of a pendulum can be converted to the ‘ticking’ motion of a clock.

Clocks are, of course, very complicated and there are other mechanisms needed to make a functioning unit. But the pendulum is the core part.