0
According to the most accurate clocks that we have will 31 December 2008 be any longer than 1 January 2009?
Emdrgreg
The world's official timekeepers have added a "leap second" to the last day of the year on Wednesday, to help match clocks to the Earth's slowing spin on its axis, which takes place at ever-changing rates affected by tides and other factors. The US Naval Observatory, keeper of the Pentagon's master clock, said it would add the extra second on Wednesday in coordination with the world's atomic clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. That corresponds to 23:59:59 GMT, when an extra second will tick by - the 24th to be added to UTC since 1972, when the practice began. UTC is the time scale kept by highly precise atomic clocks around the world, accurate to about a billionth of a second per day, the Naval Observatory says. For those with a need for precision timing, it has replaced Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT. The decision to add or remove a second is the responsibility of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, based on its monitoring of the Earth's rotation. The goal is to make sure clocks vary from the Earth's rotational time by no more than 0.9 seconds before an adjustment. That keeps UTC in sync with the position of the sun above the Earth. Mechanisms such as the internet-based Network Time Protocol and the satellite-based Global Positioning System depend on precision timing. The first leap second was introduced into UTC on June 30, 1972. The last was added on December 31, 2005. They have been added at intervals ranging from six months to seven years, Daniel Gambis, head of the IERS Earth Orientation Centre at the Observatoire de Paris, wrote in an explanatory piece this month (http://hpiers.obspm.fr/eop-pc/). Among the reasons for Earth's slowing whirl on its axis are the braking action of tides, snow or the lack of it at the polar ice caps, solar wind, space dust and magnetic storms, according to the US Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology, another timekeeper. By contrast, a leap day, February 29, occurs once every four years because a complete turn around the sun - our year with all its seasons - takes about 365 days and six hours. In 1970, an international agreement established two time scales: one based on the Earth's rotation and another on highly accurate atomic clocks. The US Naval Observatory's master clock is based on a system that now includes 50 atomic clocks, 36 based on the element cesium and 14 known as hydrogen masers. With the Earth's rotation gradually slowing, the periodic insertion of a leap second into the atomic time scale is needed to keep the two systems within a second of each other.
Be very careful how you interpret the adding of leap seconds, though. You might think that the addition of 24 leap seconds since 1972 (or whatever the current count) means that the earth is now rotating at 24 seconds per day slower than it was in 1972. This is not the case; the real explanation is counter-intuitive.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Why has the manufacture of sundials continued after the invention of clocks?
They are more accurate and add a touch of style to a garden
What is a group of clocks called?
A quarrel of clocks
Why don't pendulum clocks work at sea?
why pendulum clocks dont work at sea
When do we turn clocks back?
When the clocks get turned back depends on where you are. In the United States, most locations turn their clocks back on the first Sunday in November. In the European Union, most locations turn their clocks back on the last Sunday in October.
Why do they stop making clocks?
Clocks are still being made. You can buy one at any number of retail locations. The only reason to stop making clocks if is time stands still.
When were pendulum clocks replaced by more accurate clocks?
In the 1930s
Do digital atomic wall clocks keep accurate time and temperature?
Digital atomic clocks keep very accurate time and good tempature, in my experience.
What type of crystal do you use for accurate clocks?
Quartz
Are winding clocks accurate in hot climates?
Because of the manual operation it is accurate as long as its wound.
How has the clock progressed?
Clocks have become more accurate and much cheaper
Which is most accurate of all clocks?
That would be the Quantum logic clock.
What kind of clock offers most precision?
Atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks that are available to the general public. To date, the most accurate clock made is the so-called quantum logic clock, which is accurate to about one second in 3.7 billion years.
What kind of clock offers the most precise?
Atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks that are available to the general public. To date, the most accurate clock made is the so-called quantum logic clock, which is accurate to about one second in 3.7 billion years.
Is an analog clock more accurate than a digital clock?
Digital clocks will be the most accurate because its computer operated.
What element is used to make very accurate atomic clocks?
strontium or cesium
Clock used by national bureau of standards?
The National Bureau of Standards and Technology uses the Atomic clock. These clocks are said to be the most accurate clocks.
You have two grandfather clocks One must be wound every 6 days the other every 14 days you wind up both clocks on December 15 When is the next time you will have to wind both of the clocks on the sam?
On January 26th ... 42 days later ... you'll wind the first clockfor the 7th time, and the second clock for the 3rd time.
