Clock

A clock or a timepiece[1] is a device used to measure and

indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions,
meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the
natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the year.
Devices operating on several physical processes have been used
over the millennia.

Some predecessors to the modern clock may be considered as

"clocks" that are based on movement in nature: A sundial shows
the time by displaying the position of a shadow on a flat surface.
There is a range of duration timers, a well-known example
being the hourglass. Water clocks, along with the sundials, are
possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments. A major
advance occurred with the invention of the verge escapement,
which made possible the first mechanical clocks around 1300 in
Europe, which kept time with oscillating timekeepers like
balance wheels.[2][3][4][5]

Traditionally, in horology (the study of timekeeping), the term

clock was used for a striking clock, while a clock that did not
strike the hours audibly was called a timepiece. This distinction
is no longer made. Watches and other timepieces that can be
carried on one's person are usually not referred to as clocks.[6]
Spring-driven clocks appeared during the 15th century. During
the 15th and 16th centuries, clockmaking flourished. The next The Shepherd Gate Clock at the Royal
development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention Observatory, Greenwich
of the pendulum clock by Christiaan Huygens. A major stimulus
to improving the accuracy and reliability of clocks was the
importance of precise time-keeping for navigation. The mechanism
of a timepiece with a series of gears driven by a spring or weights is
referred to as clockwork; the term is used by extension for a similar
mechanism not used in a timepiece. The electric clock was patented
in 1840, and electronic clocks were introduced in the 20th century,
becoming widespread with the development of small battery-
Digital clock radio
powered semiconductor devices.

The timekeeping element in every modern clock is a harmonic

oscillator, a physical object (resonator) that vibrates or oscillates at a particular frequency.[3] This object can
be a pendulum, a tuning fork, a quartz crystal, or the vibration of electrons in atoms as they emit
microwaves, the last method of which is so precise that it serves as the definition of the second.
Clocks have different ways of displaying the time. Analog clocks
indicate time with a traditional clock face, with moving hands.
Digital clocks display a numeric representation of time. Two
numbering systems are in use: 12-hour time notation and 24-hour
notation. Most digital clocks use electronic mechanisms and LCD,
LED, or VFD displays. For the blind and for use over telephones,
speaking clocks state the time audibly in words. There are also
clocks for the blind that have displays that can be read by touch.

Etymology
The word clock derives from the medieval Latin word for 'bell'—
24-hour clock face in Florence
clocca—and has cognates in many European languages. Clocks
spread to England from the Low Countries,[7] so the English word
came from the Middle Low German and Middle Dutch Klocke.[8] The word derives from the Middle
English clokke, Old North French cloque, or Middle Dutch clocke, all of which mean 'bell', and stem from
an Old Irish root.[9]

History of time-measuring devices

Sundials

The apparent position of the Sun in the sky moves over the course
of each day, reflecting the rotation of the Earth. Shadows cast by
stationary objects move correspondingly, so their positions can be
used to indicate the time of day. A sundial shows the time by
displaying the position of a shadow on a (usually) flat surface,
which has markings that correspond to the hours.[10] Sundials can
be horizontal, vertical, or in other orientations. Sundials were
widely used in ancient times.[11] With the knowledge of latitude, a
well-constructed sundial can measure local solar time with Simple horizontal sundial
reasonable accuracy, within a minute or two. Sundials continued to
be used to monitor the performance of clocks until the 1830s, when
the use of the telegraph and trains standardized time and time zones between cities.[12]

Devices that measure duration, elapsed time and intervals

Many devices can be used to mark the passage of time without respect to reference time (time of day, hours,
minutes, etc.) and can be useful for measuring duration or intervals. Examples of such duration timers are
candle clocks, incense clocks and the hourglass. Both the candle clock and the incense clock work on the
same principle wherein the consumption of resources is more or less constant allowing reasonably precise
and repeatable estimates of time passages. In the hourglass, fine sand pouring through a tiny hole at a
constant rate indicates an arbitrary, predetermined passage of time. The resource is not consumed but re-
used.

Water clocks
Water clocks, along with the sundials, are possibly the oldest time-
measuring instruments, with the only exceptions being the day counting
tally stick.[13] Given their great antiquity, where and when they first existed
is not known and is perhaps unknowable. The bowl-shaped outflow is the
simplest form of a water clock and is known to have existed in Babylon
and in Egypt around the 16th century BC. Other regions of the world,
including India and China, also have early evidence of water clocks, but
the earliest dates are less certain. Some authors, however, write about water
clocks appearing as early as 4000 BC in these regions of the world.[14]

Greek astronomer Andronicus of Cyrrhus supervised the construction of

the Tower of the Winds in Athens in the 1st century B.C.[15] The Greek
and Roman civilizations advanced water clock design with improved
accuracy. These advances were passed on through Byzantine and Islamic
times, eventually making their way back to Europe. Independently, the
Chinese developed their own advanced water clocks (https://www.metmus
eum.org/art/collection/search/696219) （水鐘） in 725 AD, passing their
ideas on to Korea and Japan.

Some water clock designs were developed independently and some The flow of sand in an
knowledge was transferred through the spread of trade. Pre-modern hourglass can be used to
keep track of elapsed time.
societies do not have the same precise timekeeping requirements that exist
in modern industrial societies, where every hour of work or rest is
monitored, and work may start or finish at any time regardless of external
conditions. Instead, water clocks in ancient societies were used mainly for
astrological reasons. These early water clocks were calibrated with a
sundial. While never reaching the level of accuracy of a modern timepiece,
the water clock was the most accurate and commonly used timekeeping
device for millennia, until it was replaced by the more accurate pendulum
clock in 17th-century Europe.

Islamic civilization is credited with further advancing the accuracy of

clocks with elaborate engineering. In 797 (or possibly 801), the Abbasid
caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, presented Charlemagne with an Asian
elephant named Abul-Abbas together with a "particularly elaborate
example" of a water[16] clock. Pope Sylvester II introduced clocks to
northern and western Europe around 1000 AD.[17]
A water clock for
goldbeating goldleaf in
Mandalay (Myanmar)
Mechanical water clocks

The first known geared clock was invented by the great mathematician,
physicist, and engineer Archimedes during the 3rd century BC. Archimedes created his astronomical
clock[18] that was also a cuckoo clock with birds singing and moving every hour. It is the first carillon
clock as it plays music and simultaneously with a person blinking his eyes surprised by the singing birds.
Archimedes clock works with a system of four weights, counter weights, and strings regulated by a system
of floats in a water container with siphons that regulate the automatic continuation of the clock. The
principles of this type of clocks are described by the mathematician and physicist Hero,[19] who says that
some of them work with a chain that turns a gear of the mechanism.[20] Another Greek clock probably
constructed at the time of Alexander was in Gaza, described by Procopius.[21] The Gaza clock was
probably a Meteoroskopeion, i.e. a building showing the celestial phenomena and the time. It had pointer
for the time and some automations similar to the Archimedes clock. There were 12 doors opening one
every hour with Hercules performing his labors, the Lion at one o'clock, etc., and at night a lamp becomes
visible every hour, with 12 windows opening to show the time.

A water-powered cogwheel clock was created in China by Yi Xing and

Liang Lingzan. This is not considered an escapement mechanism clock as
it was unidirectional, the Song dynasty polymath and genius Su Song
(1020–1101) incorporated it into his monumental innovation of the
astronomical clock-tower of Kaifeng in 1088.[22][23] His astronomical
clock and rotating armillary sphere still relied on the use of either flowing
water during the spring, summer, autumn seasons and liquid mercury
during the freezing temperature of winter (i.e. hydraulics).

In Su Song's waterwheel linkwork device, the action of the escapement's

arrest and release was achieved by gravity exerted periodically as the
continuous flow of liquid filled containers of a limited size. In a single line
of evolution, Su Song's clock therefore united the concept of the clepsydra
and the mechanical clock into one device run by mechanics and hydraulics.
In his memorial, Su Song wrote about this concept:
A scale model of Su Song's
Astronomical Clock Tower,
According to your servant's opinion there have been many
built in 11th-century Kaifeng,
systems and designs for astronomical instruments during past
China. It was driven by a
dynasties all differing from one another in minor respects. But large waterwheel, chain
the principle of the use of water-power for the driving drive, and escapement
mechanism has always been the same. The heavens move
mechanism.
without ceasing but so also does water flow (and fall). Thus if
the water is made to pour with perfect evenness, then the
comparison of the rotary movements (of the heavens and the
machine) will show no discrepancy or contradiction; for the
unresting follows the unceasing.

Song was also strongly influenced by the earlier armillary sphere created by Zhang Sixun (976 AD), who
also employed the escapement mechanism and used liquid mercury instead of water in the waterwheel of
his astronomical clock tower. The mechanical clockworks for Su Song's astronomical tower featured a
great driving-wheel that was 11 feet in diameter, carrying 36 scoops, into each of which water poured at a
uniform rate from the "constant-level tank". The main driving shaft of iron, with its cylindrical necks
supported on iron crescent-shaped bearings, ended in a pinion, which engaged a gear wheel at the lower
end of the main vertical transmission shaft. This great astronomical hydromechanical clock tower was about
ten metres high (about 30 feet) and featured a clock escapement and was indirectly powered by a rotating
wheel either with falling water and liquid mercury. A full-sized working replica of Su Song's clock exists in
the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung city. This full-scale, fully
functional replica, approximately 12 meters (39 feet) in height, was constructed from Su Song's original
descriptions and mechanical drawings.[24]
In the 12th century, Al-Jazari, an engineer from Mesopotamia (lived 1136–
1206) who worked for Artuqid king of Diyar-Bakr, Nasir al-Din, made
numerous clocks of all shapes and sizes. The most reputed clocks included
the elephant, scribe, and castle clocks, some of which have been
successfully reconstructed. As well as telling the time, these grand clocks
were symbols of status, grandeur and wealth of the Urtuq State.[26]

Fully mechanical

The word horologia (from the Greek ὥρα—'hour', and λέγειν—'to tell')
was used to describe early mechanical clocks,[27] but the use of this word
(still used in several Romance languages)[28] for all timekeepers conceals
the true nature of the mechanisms. For example, there is a record that in
1176 Sens Cathedral in France installed an 'horologe'[29] but the An elephant clock in a
mechanism used is unknown. According to Jocelyn de Brakelond, in 1198
manuscript by Al-Jazari
during a fire at the abbey of St Edmundsbury (now Bury St Edmunds), the (1206 AD) from The Book of
monks "ran to the clock" to fetch water, indicating that their water clock Knowledge of Ingenious
had a reservoir large enough to help extinguish the occasional fire.[30] The Mechanical Devices[25]
word clock (via Medieval Latin clocca from Old Irish clocc, both meaning
'bell'), which gradually supersedes "horologe", suggests that it was the
sound of bells which also characterized the prototype mechanical clocks that appeared during the 13th
century in Europe.

In Europe, between 1280 and 1320, there was an increase in

the number of references to clocks and horologes in church
records, and this probably indicates that a new type of clock
mechanism had been devised. Existing clock mechanisms
that used water power were being adapted to take their
driving power from falling weights. This power was
controlled by some form of oscillating mechanism, probably
derived from existing bell-ringing or alarm devices. This
controlled release of power – the escapement – marks the
beginning of the true mechanical clock, which differed from
the previously mentioned cogwheel clocks. Verge
escapement mechanism derived in the surge of true A 17th-century weight-driven clock in Läckö
mechanical clocks, which didn't need any kind of fluid Castle, Sweden
power, like water or mercury, to work.

These mechanical clocks were intended for two main purposes: for signalling and notification (e.g., the
timing of services and public events), and for modeling the solar system. The former purpose is
administrative, the latter arises naturally given the scholarly interests in astronomy, science, astrology, and
how these subjects integrated with the religious philosophy of the time. The astrolabe was used both by
astronomers and astrologers, and it was natural to apply a clockwork drive to the rotating plate to produce a
working model of the solar system.

Simple clocks intended mainly for notification were installed in towers, and did not always require faces or
hands. They would have announced the canonical hours or intervals between set times of prayer. Canonical
hours varied in length as the times of sunrise and sunset shifted. The more sophisticated astronomical clocks
would have had moving dials or hands, and would have shown the time in various time systems, including
Italian hours, canonical hours, and time as measured by astronomers at the time. Both styles of clock started
acquiring extravagant features such as automata.
In 1283, a large clock was installed at Dunstable Priory in Bedfordshire in southern England; its location
above the rood screen suggests that it was not a water clock.[31] In 1292, Canterbury Cathedral installed a
'great horloge'. Over the next 30 years there are mentions of clocks at a number of ecclesiastical institutions
in England, Italy, and France. In 1322, a new clock was installed in Norwich, an expensive replacement for
an earlier clock installed in 1273. This had a large (2 metre) astronomical dial with automata and bells. The
costs of the installation included the full-time employment of two clockkeepers for two years.[31]

Astronomical

An elaborate water clock, the 'Cosmic Engine', was invented by Su

Song, a Chinese polymath, designed and constructed in China in
1092. This great astronomical hydromechanical clock tower was
about ten metres high (about 30 feet) and was indirectly powered
by a rotating wheel with falling water and liquid mercury, which
turned an armillary sphere capable of calculating complex
astronomical problems.

In Europe, there were the clocks constructed by Richard of

Wallingford in Albans by 1336, and by Giovanni de Dondi in
Padua from 1348 to 1364. They no longer exist, but detailed
descriptions of their design and construction survive,[32][33] and
modern reproductions have been made.[33] They illustrate how Richard of Wallingford pointing to a
quickly the theory of the mechanical clock had been translated into clock, his gift to St Albans Abbey
practical constructions, and also that one of the many impulses to
their development had been the desire of astronomers to investigate
celestial phenomena.

The Astrarium of Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio was a complex

astronomical clock built between 1348 and 1364 in Padua, Italy, by
the doctor and clock-maker Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio. The
Astrarium had seven faces and 107 moving gears; it showed the
positions of the sun, the moon and the five planets then known, as
well as religious feast days. The astrarium stood about 1 metre
high, and consisted of a seven-sided brass or iron framework 16th-century clock machine Convent
resting on 7 decorative paw-shaped feet. The lower section of Christ, Tomar, Portugal
provided a 24-hour dial and a large calendar drum, showing the
fixed feasts of the church, the movable feasts, and the position in
the zodiac of the moon's ascending node. The upper section contained 7 dials, each about 30 cm in
diameter, showing the positional data for the Primum Mobile, Venus, Mercury, the moon, Saturn, Jupiter,
and Mars. Directly above the 24-hour dial is the dial of the Primum Mobile, so called because it reproduces
the diurnal motion of the stars and the annual motion of the sun against the background of stars. Each of the
'planetary' dials used complex clockwork to produce reasonably accurate models of the planets' motion.
These agreed reasonably well both with Ptolemaic theory and with observations.[34][35]

Wallingford's clock had a large astrolabe-type dial, showing the sun, the moon's age, phase, and node, a
star map, and possibly the planets. In addition, it had a wheel of fortune and an indicator of the state of the
tide at London Bridge. Bells rang every hour, the number of strokes indicating the time.[32] Dondi's clock
was a seven-sided construction, 1 metre high, with dials showing the time of day, including minutes, the
motions of all the known planets, an automatic calendar of fixed and movable feasts, and an eclipse
prediction hand rotating once every 18 years.[33] It is not known how accurate or reliable these clocks
would have been. They were probably adjusted manually every day to compensate for errors caused by
wear and imprecise manufacture. Water clocks are sometimes still used today, and can be examined in
places such as ancient castles and museums. The Salisbury Cathedral clock, built in 1386, is considered to
be the world's oldest surviving mechanical clock that strikes the hours.[36]

Spring-driven
Examples of spring-driven clocks

Matthew Norman Decorated

carriage clock with William
winding key Gilbert
mantel
clock

Clockmakers developed their art in various ways. Building smaller clocks was a technical challenge, as was
improving accuracy and reliability. Clocks could be impressive showpieces to demonstrate skilled
craftsmanship, or less expensive, mass-produced items for domestic use. The escapement in particular was
an important factor affecting the clock's accuracy, so many different mechanisms were tried.

Spring-driven clocks appeared during the 15th century,[37][38][39] although they are often erroneously
credited to Nuremberg watchmaker Peter Henlein (or Henle, or Hele) around 1511.[40][41][42] The earliest
existing spring driven clock is the chamber clock given to Phillip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, around
1430, now in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum.[5] Spring power presented clockmakers with a new
problem: how to keep the clock movement running at a constant rate as the spring ran down. This resulted
in the invention of the stackfreed and the fusee in the 15th century, and many other innovations, down to
the invention of the modern going barrel in 1760.

Early clock dials did not indicate minutes and seconds. A clock with a dial indicating minutes was
illustrated in a 1475 manuscript by Paulus Almanus,[43] and some 15th-century clocks in Germany
indicated minutes and seconds.[44] An early record of a seconds hand on a clock dates back to about 1560
on a clock now in the Fremersdorf collection.[45]: 4 17–418 [46]

During the 15th and 16th centuries, clockmaking flourished, particularly in the metalworking towns of
Nuremberg and Augsburg, and in Blois, France. Some of the more basic table clocks have only one time-
keeping hand, with the dial between the hour markers being divided into four equal parts making the clocks
readable to the nearest 15 minutes. Other clocks were exhibitions of craftsmanship and skill, incorporating
astronomical indicators and musical movements. The cross-beat escapement was invented in 1584 by Jost
Bürgi, who also developed the remontoire. Bürgi's clocks were a great improvement in accuracy as they
were correct to within a minute a day.[47][48] These clocks helped the 16th-century astronomer Tycho
Brahe to observe astronomical events with much greater precision than before.

Pendulum

Lantern clock, German, c. 1570

The first pendulum clock, designed by Christiaan Huygens in 1656

The next development in accuracy

occurred after 1656 with the invention of the pendulum clock. Galileo had the idea to use a swinging bob
to regulate the motion of a time-telling device earlier in the 17th century. Christiaan Huygens, however, is
usually credited as the inventor. He determined the mathematical formula that related pendulum length to
time (about 99.4 cm or 39.1 inches for the one second movement) and had the first pendulum-driven clock
made. The first model clock was built in 1657 in the Hague, but it was in England that the idea was taken
up.[49] The longcase clock (also known as the grandfather clock) was created to house the pendulum and
works by the English clockmaker William Clement in 1670 or 1671. It was also at this time that clock cases
began to be made of wood and clock faces to use enamel as well as hand-painted ceramics.

In 1670, William Clement created the anchor escapement,[50] an improvement over Huygens' crown
escapement. Clement also introduced the pendulum suspension spring in 1671. The concentric minute hand
was added to the clock by Daniel Quare, a London clockmaker and others, and the second hand was first
introduced.

Hairspring

In 1675, Huygens and Robert Hooke invented the spiral balance spring, or the hairspring, designed to
control the oscillating speed of the balance wheel. This crucial advance finally made accurate pocket
watches possible. The great English clockmaker Thomas Tompion, was one of the first to use this
mechanism successfully in his pocket watches, and he adopted the minute hand which, after a variety of
designs were trialled, eventually stabilised into the modern-day configuration.[51] The rack and snail
striking mechanism for striking clocks, was introduced during the 17th century and had distinct advantages
over the 'countwheel' (or 'locking plate') mechanism. During the 20th century there was a common
misconception that Edward Barlow invented rack and snail striking. In fact, his invention was connected
with a repeating mechanism employing the rack and snail.[52] The repeating clock, that chimes the number
of hours (or even minutes) on demand was invented by either Quare or Barlow in 1676. George Graham
invented the deadbeat escapement for clocks in 1720.

Marine chronometer

A major stimulus to improving the accuracy and reliability of clocks was the importance of precise time-
keeping for navigation. The position of a ship at sea could be determined with reasonable accuracy if a
navigator could refer to a clock that lost or gained less than about 10 seconds per day. This clock could not
contain a pendulum, which would be virtually useless on a rocking ship. In 1714, the British government
offered large financial rewards to the value of 20,000 pounds[53] for anyone who could determine
longitude accurately. John Harrison, who dedicated his life to improving the accuracy of his clocks, later
received considerable sums under the Longitude Act.

In 1735, Harrison built his first chronometer, which he steadily improved on over the next thirty years
before submitting it for examination. The clock had many innovations, including the use of bearings to
reduce friction, weighted balances to compensate for the ship's pitch and roll in the sea and the use of two
different metals to reduce the problem of expansion from heat. The chronometer was tested in 1761 by
Harrison's son and by the end of 10 weeks the clock was in error by less than 5 seconds.[54]

Mass production

The British had dominated watch manufacture for much of the 17th and 18th centuries, but maintained a
system of production that was geared towards high quality products for the elite.[55] Although there was an
attempt to modernise clock manufacture with mass-production techniques and the application of duplicating
tools and machinery by the British Watch Company in 1843, it was in the United States that this system
took off. In 1816, Eli Terry and some other Connecticut clockmakers developed a way of mass-producing
clocks by using interchangeable parts.[56] Aaron Lufkin Dennison started a factory in 1851 in
Massachusetts that also used interchangeable parts, and by 1861 was running a successful enterprise
incorporated as the Waltham Watch Company.[57][58]

Early electric

In 1815, Francis Ronalds published the first electric clock powered by dry pile batteries.[59] Alexander
Bain, Scottish clockmaker, patented the electric clock in 1840. The electric clock's mainspring is wound
either with an electric motor or with an electromagnet and armature. In 1841, he first patented the
electromagnetic pendulum. By the end of the nineteenth century, the advent of the dry cell battery made it
feasible to use electric power in clocks. Spring or weight driven clocks that use electricity, either alternating
current (AC) or direct current (DC), to rewind the spring or raise the weight of a mechanical clock would
be classified as an electromechanical clock. This classification would also apply to clocks that employ an
electrical impulse to propel the pendulum. In electromechanical clocks the electricity serves no time keeping
function. These types of clocks were made as individual timepieces but more commonly used in
synchronized time installations in schools, businesses, factories, railroads and government facilities as a
master clock and slave clocks.

Where an AC electrical supply of stable frequency is available, timekeeping can be maintained very reliably
by using a synchronous motor, essentially counting the cycles. The supply current alternates with an
accurate frequency of 50 hertz in many countries, and 60 hertz in others. While the frequency may vary
slightly during the day as the load changes, generators are designed to maintain an accurate number of
cycles over a day, so the clock may be a fraction of a second slow or fast at
any time, but will be perfectly accurate over a long time. The rotor of the
motor rotates at a speed that is related to the alternation frequency.
Appropriate gearing converts this rotation speed to the correct ones for the
hands of the analog clock. Time in these cases is measured in several ways,
such as by counting the cycles of the AC supply, vibration of a tuning fork,
the behaviour of quartz crystals, or the quantum vibrations of atoms.
Electronic circuits divide these high-frequency oscillations to slower ones
that drive the time display.

Quartz

The piezoelectric properties of crystalline quartz were discovered by

Jacques and Pierre Curie in 1880.[60][61] The first crystal oscillator was
invented in 1917 by Alexander M. Nicholson, after which the first quartz
crystal oscillator was built by Walter G. Cady in 1921.[3] In 1927 the first
quartz clock was built by Warren Marrison and J.W. Horton at Bell Early French
electromagnetic clock
Telephone Laboratories in Canada.[62][3] The following decades saw the
development of quartz clocks as precision time measurement devices in
laboratory settings—the bulky and delicate counting electronics,
built with vacuum tubes at the time, limited their practical use
elsewhere. The National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) based
the time standard of the United States on quartz clocks from late
1929 until the 1960s, when it changed to atomic clocks.[63] In
1969, Seiko produced the world's first quartz wristwatch, the
Astron.[64] Their inherent accuracy and low cost of production
resulted in the subsequent proliferation of quartz clocks and
watches.[60]

Atomic

Currently, atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks in existence.

They are considerably more accurate than quartz clocks as they can Picture of a quartz crystal resonator,
be accurate to within a few seconds over trillions of years.[65][66] used as the timekeeping component
Atomic clocks were first theorized by Lord Kelvin in 1879.[67] In in quartz watches and clocks, with
the 1930s the development of magnetic resonance created practical the case removed. It is formed in the
method for doing this. [68] A prototype ammonia maser device was shape of a tuning fork. Most such
built in 1949 at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS, now quartz clock crystals vibrate at a
NIST). Although it was less accurate than existing quartz clocks, it frequency of 32 768 Hz.
served to demonstrate the concept. [69][70][71] The first accurate
atomic clock, a caesium standard based on a certain transition of the
caesium-133 atom, was built by Louis Essen in 1955 at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK.[72]
Calibration of the caesium standard atomic clock was carried out by the use of the astronomical time scale
ephemeris time (ET).[73] As of 2013, the most stable atomic clocks are ytterbium clocks, which are stable
to within less than two parts in 1 quintillion (2 × 10−18 ).[74]

Operation
The invention of the mechanical clock in the 13th century initiated a change in timekeeping methods from
continuous processes, such as the motion of the gnomon's shadow on a sundial or the flow of liquid in a
water clock, to periodic oscillatory processes, such as the swing of a pendulum or the vibration of a quartz
crystal,[4][75] which had the potential for more accuracy. All modern clocks use oscillation.

Although the mechanisms they use vary, all oscillating clocks, mechanical, electric, and atomic, work
similarly and can be divided into analogous parts.[76][77][78] They consist of an object that repeats the same
motion over and over again, an oscillator, with a precisely constant time interval between each repetition,
or 'beat'. Attached to the oscillator is a controller device, which sustains the oscillator's motion by replacing
the energy it loses to friction, and converts its oscillations into a series of pulses. The pulses are then
counted by some type of counter, and the number of counts is converted into convenient units, usually
seconds, minutes, hours, etc. Finally some kind of indicator displays the result in human readable form.

Power source
In mechanical clocks, the power source is typically either a weight suspended from a cord or
chain wrapped around a pulley, sprocket or drum; or a spiral spring called a mainspring.
Mechanical clocks must be wound periodically, usually by turning a knob or key or by pulling
on the free end of the chain, to store energy in the weight or spring to keep the clock running.
In electric clocks, the power source is either a battery or the AC power line. In clocks that use
AC power, a small backup battery is often included to keep the clock running if it is
unplugged temporarily from the wall or during a power outage. Battery-powered analog wall
clocks are available that operate over 15 years between battery changes.

Oscillator

The timekeeping element in every modern clock is a harmonic

oscillator, a physical object (resonator) that vibrates or oscillates
repetitively at a precisely constant frequency.[3][79][80][81]

In mechanical clocks, this is either a pendulum or a

balance wheel.
In some early electronic clocks and watches such as the
Accutron, it is a tuning fork.
In quartz clocks and watches, it is a quartz crystal.
In atomic clocks, it is the vibration of electrons in atoms
as they emit microwaves.
In early mechanical clocks before 1657, it was a crude Balance wheel, the oscillator in a
balance wheel or foliot which was not a harmonic mechanical mantel clock.
oscillator because it lacked a balance spring. As a result,
they were very inaccurate, with errors of perhaps an hour
a day.[82]

The advantage of a harmonic oscillator over other forms of oscillator is that it employs resonance to vibrate
at a precise natural resonant frequency or "beat" dependent only on its physical characteristics, and resists
vibrating at other rates. The possible precision achievable by a harmonic oscillator is measured by a
parameter called its Q,[83][84] or quality factor, which increases (other things being equal) with its resonant
frequency.[85] This is why there has been a long-term trend toward higher frequency oscillators in clocks.
Balance wheels and pendulums always include a means of adjusting the rate of the timepiece. Quartz
timepieces sometimes include a rate screw that adjusts a capacitor for that purpose. Atomic clocks are
primary standards, and their rate cannot be adjusted.

Synchronized or slave clocks

Some clocks rely for their accuracy on an external oscillator; that is,
they are automatically synchronized to a more accurate clock:

Slave clocks, used in large institutions and schools from

the 1860s to the 1970s, kept time with a pendulum, but
were wired to a master clock in the building, and
periodically received a signal to synchronize them with
the master, often on the hour.[86] Later versions without
pendulums were triggered by a pulse from the master
clock and certain sequences used to force rapid
synchronization following a power failure.
The Shepherd Gate Clock receives
Synchronous electric clocks do not have an internal its timing signal from within the
oscillator, but count cycles of the 50 or 60 Hz oscillation Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
of the AC power line, which is synchronized by the utility
to a precision oscillator. The counting may be done
electronically, usually in clocks with digital displays, or,
in analog clocks, the AC may drive a synchronous motor
which rotates an exact fraction of a revolution for every
cycle of the line voltage, and drives the gear train.
Although changes in the grid line frequency due to load
variations may cause the clock to temporarily gain or
lose several seconds during the course of a day, the total
number of cycles per 24 hours is maintained extremely
accurately by the utility company, so that the clock keeps
time accurately over long periods. Synchronous electric clock, around
Computer real-time clocks keep time with a quartz 1940. By 1940 the synchronous
crystal, but can be periodically (usually weekly) clock became the most common
synchronized over the Internet to atomic clocks (UTC), type of clock in the U.S.
using the Network Time Protocol (NTP).
Radio clocks keep time with a quartz crystal, but are
periodically synchronized to time signals transmitted from dedicated standard time radio
stations or satellite navigation signals, which are set by atomic clocks.

Controller

This has the dual function of keeping the oscillator running by giving it 'pushes' to replace the energy lost to
friction, and converting its vibrations into a series of pulses that serve to measure the time.

In mechanical clocks, this is the escapement, which gives precise pushes to the swinging
pendulum or balance wheel, and releases one gear tooth of the escape wheel at each
swing, allowing all the clock's wheels to move forward a fixed amount with each swing.
In electronic clocks this is an electronic oscillator circuit that gives the vibrating quartz crystal
or tuning fork tiny 'pushes', and generates a series of electrical pulses, one for each vibration
of the crystal, which is called the clock signal.
 In atomic clocks the controller is an evacuated microwave cavity attached to a microwave
oscillator controlled by a microprocessor. A thin gas of caesium atoms is released into the
cavity where they are exposed to microwaves. A laser measures how many atoms have
absorbed the microwaves, and an electronic feedback control system called a phase-locked
loop tunes the microwave oscillator until it is at the frequency that causes the atoms to
vibrate and absorb the microwaves. Then the microwave signal is divided by digital counters
to become the clock signal.[87]

In mechanical clocks, the low Q of the balance wheel or pendulum oscillator made them very sensitive to
the disturbing effect of the impulses of the escapement, so the escapement had a great effect on the
accuracy of the clock, and many escapement designs were tried. The higher Q of resonators in electronic
clocks makes them relatively insensitive to the disturbing effects of the drive power, so the driving oscillator
circuit is a much less critical component.[3]

Counter chain

This counts the pulses and adds them up to get traditional time units of seconds, minutes, hours, etc. It
usually has a provision for setting the clock by manually entering the correct time into the counter.

In mechanical clocks this is done mechanically by a gear train, known as the wheel train.
The gear train also has a second function; to transmit mechanical power from the power
source to run the oscillator. There is a friction coupling called the 'cannon pinion' between
the gears driving the hands and the rest of the clock, allowing the hands to be turned to set
the time.[88]
In digital clocks a series of integrated circuit counters or dividers add the pulses up digitally,
using binary logic. Often pushbuttons on the case allow the hour and minute counters to be
incremented and decremented to set the time.

Indicator

This displays the count of seconds, minutes, hours, etc. in a human

readable form.

The earliest mechanical clocks in the 13th century did

not have a visual indicator and signalled the time audibly
by striking bells. Many clocks to this day are striking
clocks which strike the hour. A cuckoo clock with mechanical
Analog clocks display time with an analog clock face, automaton and sound producer
which consists of a dial with the numbers 1 through 12 or striking on the eighth hour on the
24, the hours in the day, around the outside. The hours analog dial
are indicated with an hour hand, which makes one or
two revolutions in a day, while the minutes are indicated
by a minute hand, which makes one revolution per hour. In mechanical clocks a gear train
drives the hands; in electronic clocks the circuit produces pulses every second which drive a
stepper motor and gear train, which move the hands.
Digital clocks display the time in periodically changing digits on a digital display. A common
misconception is that a digital clock is more accurate than an analog wall clock, but the
indicator type is separate and apart from the accuracy of the timing source.
 Talking clocks and the speaking clock services provided by telephone companies speak the
time audibly, using either recorded or digitally synthesized voices.

Types
Clocks can be classified by the type of time display, as well as by the method of timekeeping.

Time display methods

Analog

Analog clocks usually use a clock face which indicates time using
rotating pointers called "hands" on a fixed numbered dial or dials.
The standard clock face, known universally throughout the world,
has a short "hour hand" which indicates the hour on a circular dial
of 12 hours, making two revolutions per day, and a longer "minute
hand" which indicates the minutes in the current hour on the same
dial, which is also divided into 60 minutes. It may also have a
"second hand" which indicates the seconds in the current minute.
The only other widely used clock face today is the 24 hour analog
dial, because of the use of 24 hour time in military organizations
and timetables. Before the modern clock face was standardized
during the Industrial Revolution, many other face designs were
used throughout the years, including dials divided into 6, 8, 10, and A modern quartz clock with a 24-hour
24 hours. During the French Revolution the French government face
tried to introduce a 10-hour clock, as part of their decimal-based
metric system of measurement, but it did not achieve widespread
use. An Italian 6 hour clock was developed in the 18th century,
presumably to save power (a clock or watch striking 24 times uses
more power).

Another type of analog clock is the sundial, which tracks the sun
continuously, registering the time by the shadow position of its
gnomon. Because the sun does not adjust to daylight saving time,
users must add an hour during that time. Corrections must also be
made for the equation of time, and for the difference between the A linear clock at London's Piccadilly
longitudes of the sundial and of the central meridian of the time Circus tube station. The 24 hour
zone that is being used (i.e. 15 degrees east of the prime meridian band moves across the static map,
for each hour that the time zone is ahead of GMT). Sundials use keeping pace with the apparent
some or part of the 24 hour analog dial. There also exist clocks movement of the sun above ground,
which use a digital display despite having an analog mechanism— and a pointer fixed on London points
these are commonly referred to as flip clocks. Alternative systems to the current time.
have been proposed. For example, the "Twelv" clock indicates the
current hour using one of twelve colors, and indicates the minute
by showing a proportion of a circular disk, similar to a moon phase.[89]

Digital
Examples of digital clocks
 Digital clock displaying Simplistic digital clock radio Diagram of a
time by controlling valves mechanical digital
on the fountain display of a flip
clock

Digital clocks display a numeric representation of time. Two numeric display formats are commonly used
on digital clocks:

the 24-hour notation with hours ranging 00–23;

the 12-hour notation with AM/PM indicator, with hours indicated as 12AM, followed by 1AM–
11AM, followed by 12PM, followed by 1PM–11PM (a notation mostly used in domestic
environments).

Most digital clocks use electronic mechanisms and LCD, LED, or VFD displays; many other display
technologies are used as well (cathode-ray tubes, nixie tubes, etc.). After a reset, battery change or power
failure, these clocks without a backup battery or capacitor either start counting from 12:00, or stay at 12:00,
often with blinking digits indicating that the time needs to be set. Some newer clocks will reset themselves
based on radio or Internet time servers that are tuned to national atomic clocks. Since the introduction of
digital clocks in the 1960s, there has been a notable decline in the use of analog clocks.[90]

Some clocks, called 'flip clocks', have digital displays that work mechanically. The digits are painted on
sheets of material which are mounted like the pages of a book. Once a minute, a page is turned over to
reveal the next digit. These displays are usually easier to read in brightly lit conditions than LCDs or LEDs.
Also, they do not go back to 12:00 after a power interruption. Flip clocks generally do not have electronic
mechanisms. Usually, they are driven by AC-synchronous motors.

Hybrid (analog-digital)

Clocks with analog quadrants, with a digital component, usually minutes and hours displayed analogously
and seconds displayed in digital mode.

Auditory

For convenience, distance, telephony or blindness, auditory clocks present the time as sounds. The sound is
either spoken natural language, (e.g. "The time is twelve thirty-five"), or as auditory codes (e.g. number of
sequential bell rings on the hour represents the number of the hour like the bell, Big Ben). Most
telecommunication companies also provide a speaking clock service as well.

Word
Word clocks are clocks that display the time visually using
sentences. E.g.: "It's about three o'clock." These clocks can be
implemented in hardware or software.

Projection

Some clocks, usually digital ones, include an optical projector that

shines a magnified image of the time display onto a screen or onto a Software word clock
surface such as an indoor ceiling or wall. The digits are large
enough to be easily read, without using glasses, by persons with
moderately imperfect vision, so the clocks are convenient for use in their bedrooms. Usually, the
timekeeping circuitry has a battery as a backup source for an uninterrupted power supply to keep the clock
on time, while the projection light only works when the unit is connected to an A.C. supply. Completely
battery-powered portable versions resembling flashlights are also available.

Tactile

Auditory and projection clocks can be used by people who are blind or have limited vision. There are also
clocks for the blind that have displays that can be read by using the sense of touch. Some of these are
similar to normal analog displays, but are constructed so the hands can be felt without damaging them.
Another type is essentially digital, and uses devices that use a code such as Braille to show the digits so that
they can be felt with the fingertips.

Multi-display

Some clocks have several displays driven by a single mechanism, and some others have several completely
separate mechanisms in a single case. Clocks in public places often have several faces visible from different
directions, so that the clock can be read from anywhere in the vicinity; all the faces show the same time.
Other clocks show the current time in several time-zones. Watches that are intended to be carried by
travellers often have two displays, one for the local time and the other for the time at home, which is useful
for making pre-arranged phone calls. Some equation clocks have two displays, one showing mean time and
the other solar time, as would be shown by a sundial. Some clocks have both analog and digital displays.
Clocks with Braille displays usually also have conventional digits so they can be read by sighted people.

Purposes
Clocks are in homes, offices and many other places; smaller ones (watches) are carried on the wrist or in a
pocket; larger ones are in public places, e.g. a railway station or church. A small clock is often shown in a
corner of computer displays, mobile phones and many MP3 players.

The primary purpose of a clock is to display the time. Clocks may also have the facility to make a loud alert
signal at a specified time, typically to waken a sleeper at a preset time; they are referred to as alarm clocks.
The alarm may start at a low volume and become louder, or have the facility to be switched off for a few
minutes then resume. Alarm clocks with visible indicators are sometimes used to indicate to children too
young to read the time that the time for sleep has finished; they are sometimes called training clocks.

A clock mechanism may be used to control a device according to time, e.g. a central heating system, a
VCR, or a time bomb (see: digital counter). Such mechanisms are usually called timers. Clock mechanisms
are also used to drive devices such as solar trackers and astronomical telescopes, which have to turn at
accurately controlled speeds to counteract the rotation of the Earth.
Most digital computers depend on an internal signal at constant frequency
to synchronize processing; this is referred to as a clock signal. (A few
research projects are developing CPUs based on asynchronous circuits.)
Some equipment, including computers, also maintains time and date for use
as required; this is referred to as time-of-day clock, and is distinct from the
system clock signal, although possibly based on counting its cycles.

In Chinese culture, giving a clock (traditional Chinese: 送鐘 ; simplified

Chinese: 送钟 ; pinyin: sòng zhōng) is often taboo, especially to the elderly
as the term for this act is a homophone with the term for the act of attending
another's funeral (traditional Chinese:
[91][92][93]
送終 ; simplified Chinese: 送终 ;
pinyin: sòngzhōng).

This homonymic pair works in both Mandarin and Cantonese, although in

most parts of China only clocks and large bells, and not watches, are called
"zhong", and watches are commonly given as gifts in China.

However, should such a gift be given, the "unluckiness" of the gift can be Many cities and towns
countered by exacting a small monetary payment so the recipient is buying traditionally have public
送
the clock and thereby counteracting the ' ' ("give") expression of the clocks in a prominent
location, such as a town
phrase.
square or city center. This
one is on display at the
Time standards center of the town of
Robbins, North Carolina
For some scientific work timing of the utmost accuracy is essential. It is
also necessary to have a standard of the maximum accuracy against which
working clocks can be calibrated. An ideal clock would give the time to
unlimited accuracy, but this is not realisable. Many physical processes, in
particular including some transitions between atomic energy levels, occur at
exceedingly stable frequency; counting cycles of such a process can give a
very accurate and consistent time—clocks which work this way are usually
called atomic clocks. Such clocks are typically large, very expensive,
require a controlled environment, and are far more accurate than required
for most purposes; they are typically used in a standards laboratory. A Napoleon III mantel clock,
from the third quarter of the
19th century, in the Museu
Navigation de Belles Arts de València
from Spain
Until advances in the late twentieth century, navigation depended on the
ability to measure latitude and longitude. Latitude can be determined
through celestial navigation; the measurement of longitude requires accurate knowledge of time. This need
was a major motivation for the development of accurate mechanical clocks. John Harrison created the first
highly accurate marine chronometer in the mid-18th century. The Noon gun in Cape Town still fires an
accurate signal to allow ships to check their chronometers. Many buildings near major ports used to have
(some still do) a large ball mounted on a tower or mast arranged to drop at a pre-determined time, for the
same purpose. While satellite navigation systems such as GPS require unprecedentedly accurate knowledge
of time, this is supplied by equipment on the satellites; vehicles no longer need timekeeping equipment.

Specific types
By mechanism By function By style
 Astronomical 10-hour clock American clock
clock Alarm clock Automaton clock
Atomic clock Binary clock Balloon clock
Candle clock Chronometer Banjo clock
Congreve clock watch Bracket clock
Conical Cuckoo clock Carriage clock
pendulum clock Duodecimal clock Cartel clock
Digital clock Equation clock Cat clock
Electric clock Game clock Chariot clock
Flip clock Japanese clock Clock tower
Flying pendulum Master clock Cuckoo clock A monumental conical
clock
Musical clock Doll's head clock pendulum clock by Eugène
Hourglass
Railroad Floral clock Farcot, 1867. Drexel
Incense clock chronometer French Empire University, Philadelphia,
Lamport clock Slave clock mantel clock USA
Mechanical watch Speaking clock Grandfather clock
Observatory Stopwatch Lantern clock
chronometer Striking clock Lighthouse clock
Oil-lamp clock
Talking clock Mantel clock
Pendulum clock
Tide clock Skeleton clock
Projection clock
Time ball Turret clock
Pulsar clock Time clock Watch
Quantum clock
World clock
Quartz clock
Radio clock
Rolling ball clock
Spring drive
watch
Steam clock
Sundial
Torsion pendulum
clock
Water clock

See also
24-hour analog dial
Allan variance
Allen-Bradley Clock Tower at Rockwell Automation Headquarters Building (Wisconsin)
American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute
BaselWorld
Biological clock
Castle clock
Clockarium
Clock as herald of the Industrial Revolution (Lewis Mumford)
Clock face
 Clock drift
Clock ident
Clock network
Clock of the Long Now
Clock signal (digital circuits)
Clockkeeper
Clockmaker
Colgate Clock (Indiana)
Colgate Clock (New Jersey), largest clock in USA
Corpus Clock
Cosmo Clock 21, world's largest clock
Cox's timepiece
Cuckooland Museum
Date and time representation by country
Debt clock
Le Défenseur du Temps (automata)
Department of Defense master clock (U.S.)
Doomsday Clock
Earth clock
Equation clock
Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH
Guard tour patrol system (watchclocks)
Iron Ring Clock
Jens Olsen's World Clock
Jewel bearing
List of biggest clock faces
List of clocks
List of international common standards
List of largest cuckoo clocks
Metrology
Mora clock
National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
Projection clock
Replica watch
Rubik's Clock
Star clock
Singing bird box
System time
Time to digital converter
Timeline of time measurement technology
Timer
Watch
Watchmaker

Notes and references

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External links
Media related to Clocks at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of clock at Wiktionary
National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors Museum (http://www.nawcc.org)

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