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Post by abacus9900 on Sept 6, 2010 9:28:10 GMT 1
Does anyone know how atomic clocks work?
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Post by y on Sept 6, 2010 11:00:45 GMT 1
Yes, Louis Essen,
Essen earned his Ph.D. (1941) and D.Sc. (1948) from the University of London before becoming interested in the possibility of using the frequency of atomic spectra to improve time measurement. The feasibility of measuring time using caesium as an atomic reference had been demonstrated by the US National Bureau of Standards. In 1955, he developed, in collaboration with Jack Parry, the first practical atomic clock by integrating the caesium atomic standard with conventional quartz crystal oscillators to allow calibration of existing time-keeping.
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Post by abacus9900 on Sept 6, 2010 11:20:15 GMT 1
...of using the frequency of atomic spectra to improve time measurement. Thanks y, but I'm not sure what you mean by atomic spectra.
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Post by StuartG on Sept 6, 2010 11:37:02 GMT 1
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Post by StuartG on Sept 6, 2010 11:52:39 GMT 1
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Post by abacus9900 on Sept 6, 2010 11:58:21 GMT 1
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Post by StuartG on Sept 6, 2010 12:26:40 GMT 1
I'll leave y to answer for Him/Her self, as understood it doesn't use atoms themselves, the microwave frequency produced when the atom changes from one energy state to another, that frequency(s) produced are a 'spectra' part of a spectrum a la prisms and rainbows. Apparently they've been using MASERs [Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation]. They now seem to be moving to LASERs [Light Amp...etc]. If lasers are studied first, then it may be found to be more easily grasped [at least I did] than jumping into masers straight away. Good ole Wiki... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_clock'An atomic clock is a clock that uses an electronic transition frequency in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms as a frequency standard for its timekeeping element.' StuartG
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