How exactly is it that quartz crystal led to such a massive growth in our time-keeping ability?

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Every video I see on some introduction to time-keeping history says things changed when quartz was discovered. I remember commercials for watches actually bragging in marketing campaigns about quartz time-keeping or whatever it is called. I don’t know what about quartz (is it an element) made it so important for keeping accurate time.

Also, I wasn’t sure what flair to put this under. I can add another if someone has a better suggestion.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

If you put a bit of electricity into a quartz crystal, it vibrates. When it vibrates, it sends back its own bit of electricity. This is called piezoelectricity. If you make it the right shape, you can get it pretty precise. You can also make it vibrate with a frequency that is a power of 2, which means the circuit that counts those vibrations is super simple and inexpensive. This process also uses very little energy, so a small battery can last a long time.

All this meant clocks could be easier to make, smaller, more accurate, more precise, and cheaper.

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