How do analog clocks/watches tick at exactly a second?
In: 6
Every clock has some timekeeping element, the purpose of which is to move at consistent intervals.
Common time keeping elements include:
1. piezoelectric quartz crystals which vibrate at defined intervals in a specific electrical circuit (more details here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_oscillator?wprov=sfla1)
2. torsion and pendulum escapement mechanisms – basically a gear and pendulum (escapement), which ensures the gear takes some defined time to turn when a constant turning force (torsion) is applied to it by a wind-up spring. This works because pendulums subject to constant forces, have a constant frequency with which they go back and forth.
Here’s a link with a good animation:
https://hackaday.com/2016/11/15/the-little-mechanism-that-made-precise-time-keeping-possible/
Now after you have any turning motion at a defined frequency, converting it to seconds is easy using gears. E.g. If you have a gear with 30 teeth rotating every 30 seconds, you just need another gear with 60 teeth connected to it, to get your rotation every 60 seconds.
Latest Answers