Atomic clock

time controller with atomic clock

The time, the hours, the minutes, the seconds ... who has not looked a thousand and once at the clock throughout the day to see if he arrives late or early for an appointment, to see how much you have left to get out of work or simply to See how quickly your time goes by when you're having a good time at the bar with friends or family. There are people who advance the clock to be cautious and others who are late everywhere because they do not look at the clock on time. But surely you have asked yourself the question of, will there be a perfectly synchronized clock that marks the exact time for everyone?

Yes it exists, and it is called atomic clock. It is a watch that works by operating a counter that uses an atomic resonance or vibration. It is the most accurate man-made watch to date. Do you want to know how it works and what it is made of? Keep reading and know all its secrets.

How the atomic clock works

NASA atomic clock

As we have mentioned before, knowing the time at any time may be necessary to make your day-to-day plans and be calm. Therefore, you have to have a well-set clock to know well the time of day you are. A clock that is early or late is of no use to us. With the atomic clock this does not happen to us because it is the most accurate man ever created.

If we compare it with the traditional mechanical watch, which bases its operation on a pendulum, this one is different. The first works with an oscillation that moves a series of gears associated with each other to mark a constant rhythm that indicates the passage of seconds, minutes and hours. However, the atomic clock works by the frequency of the energetic variations of the atoms in the region of the microwave electromagnetic spectrum.

The watch uses a material called Maser. It is a microwave amplifier for stimulated emission of radiation. Although it sounds complex, it is nothing more than a system capable of amplifying the weakest signals and transforming them into the microwave fringe of the electromagnetic spectrum. It's like it's a laser.

This Maser is pumped by a radio transmitter with a frequency of 0,000000001 seconds per day. The accuracy of this pumping is very great. For this reason, when the radio emitter is coupled with the frequency in the variations of the radiation of an atomic element, the ions that are there are capable of absorbing said radiation and emitting light. All of this takes place thanks to radio wave emissions.

Data transformation into time

machinery of an atomic clock

When ions absorb radiation and emit light, a photoelectric cell catches the exact moment in which the light is emitted and through a circuit begins the connection with a meter. The counter is the piece in charge of being able to record the number of times the expected wave begins to emit.

All the data that is obtained in the counter of the times that the ion emits light is passed to a computer. It is when all the operations necessary to send the pulses to the receivers begin to be carried out. The end receivers are the ones that visually show us the correct time.

The isotope used to absorb radiation and emit light is Cesium 133. This isotope is heated so that it can release its atoms and, with the electrical charges they possess, they can be conducted through an empty tube with an electromagnetic field that acts as a filter so that only atoms whose energy state is the one that is needed can pass through. .

Importance of the atomic clock

precision of an atomic clock

Surely you have thought about having an atomic clock to have the best precision in the world and never be late anywhere. However, it is a watch intended for research given its great precision. It is not only used to time the times of chemical reactions or to carry out experiments where time is an important variable to take into account. It is quite useful to know the variations that exist in the speed of time.

So far, one of the most complete and famous experiments in which the atomic clock has been used is to send planes in opposite directions around the Earth. Once the planes depart from their origins, the clock is started and the time it takes for both to arrive is measured. This is how it is verified that special relativity holds. Another experiment is to place an atomic clock in the basement of a skyscraper and another on the roof to see the difference between the two. For these types of experiments you need a clock that has great precision.

Currently, this atomic clock is used for the formation of the GPS satellites that we are used to using in our smartphones or cars. Therefore, the time of these devices is very accurate. From what can be seen, it does not have a restrictive laboratory use, but we all indirectly use it.

Can we have a handheld atomic clock?

atomic wrist watch

Who does not want to have a watch as precise as this in their hands to go everywhere knowing the exact time. However, atomic clocks can never reach our hands. They have a big problem and it is that in order to have such good precision require very stable environments and very cold temperatures. It is only in these environments that the exact precision of the atomic clock comes to the fore.

On the other hand, the watches that we can currently acquire they are quite accurate and it has been estimated that it would not have great market options. Given its components and its difficulty of maintenance, it would be a high-cost watch and would not make a dent in the markets. There is not much prospect of sale that encourages the development of mechanisms to have an atomic wristwatch.

You can constantly observe people in the world who do not know what to do with their money and perhaps this group of people is willing to pay very high prices for this type of watch so accurate on their wrist. Just for saying that they have something unique and different from other people could be a good market option.

Be that as it may, it is a type of watch that is very necessary for science and that helps to better understand the world in which we live.


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