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Atomic Clocks
Also form the basis for many
technologies
You may think how a clock could
be so important regardless of
how accurate it is, however, when
you consider that precision, that a
modern atomic clock doesnʼt
lose a second in time in tens of
millions of years when compared
to the next best chronometers –
electronic clocks – that can lose a
second a day you get to realise
just how accurate they are.
In fact, atomic clocks have been
crucial in identifying the smaller
nuances of our world and the
universe. For instance we have for
millennia assumed that a day is 24
hours long but in fact, thanks to atomic
clock technology we now know that
the length of each day slightly differs
and in general the earthʼs rotation is
slowing down.
What Atomic Clocks Have Done for
Us?
Atomic clocks have also been used to
accurately measure the earthʼs gravity
and have even proved Einsteinʼs
theories of how gravity can slow time
by accurately measuring the
difference in the passing of time at
each subsequent inch above the
earthʼs surface. This has been crucial
when it comes to placing satellites in
orbit as time passes quicker that high
above the earth than it does on the
ground.
Atomic clocks also form the basis for
many of the technologies that we
employ in our day to day lives. Satellite
navigation devices rely on atomic
clocks in GPS satellites. Not only do
they have to take into account the
differences in time above the orbit but it
as sat navs use the time sent from the
satellites to triangulate positions, a one
second inaccuracy would see
navigational information inaccurate by
thousands of miles (as light travels
nearly 180,000 miles every second).
Atomic clocks are also the basis for the
worldʼs global timescale – UTC
(Coordinated Universal Time), which
is utilised by computer networks
throughout the world. Time
synchronization to an atomic clock and
UTC is relatively straight forward w