The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is the place to
find the most accurate time in the United States. The national time scale,
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), is used by the Time and Frequency Division of
NIST as a public service. NIST is located in Boulder, Colorado.
The Atomix wall clock is a popular manufacturer that offers the technology found
at NIST. With these timepieces you will never be late again. Or at least you can
not use your clock as an excuse because people will know your atomic clock is
never wrong. These clocks automatically synchronize with the National Institute
of Standards and Technology and even adjust for daylight savings! Atomic clocks
receive a radio signal from NIST that a microchip translates and shows on the
clock display. At first the clocks will search hourly to make sure
synchronization takes place. Then the clocks check for the signal from 5-7 times
every day. The signal is the strongest in the early morning hours. Atomic wall
clocks can be found in either digital or analog.
The Atomic clock is one type of atomic clock. The atomic clock was invented in
the 1970’s. The clocks are said to be accurate to up to ten billionths of a
second! That is pretty incredible. Atomic clocks get there name from the way the
time is measured- by the frequency in a cesium atom. Today research scientists
are using the frequency of a mercury atom for its faster resonance but this is
still being tested for accuracy and stability. Right now the microwave cesium
atom resonance is still the standard for measuring a second. |
