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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When electricity is passed through quartz, it basically vibrates at a neatly perfect interval. You can then using a computer to count how many times it does it in a given period, and you create a new standard for how long a “second” is. Then you change everything to measure based on the new standard.
These days the standard is based on the nuclear properties of some atom, I forget which, but is even more accurate. You may have heard of the term, “atomic clock”. But quartz is accurate enough for all but the most precise scientific measurements.
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