Science of a Second

The old definition of a second was based on the rotation of the Earth. As it takes the Sun one day to rise in the east, set in the west and rise again, a day was almost arbitrarily divided into 24 hours, the hour into 60 minutes, and the minute into 60 seconds. However, the Earth doesn’t rotate uniformly. In fact, it’s rotation decreases at a rate of about 20 millionths of a second every calendar year due to tidal friction caused by the Moon.

Atomic time relies on the energy transition with an atom of a certain element, commonly caesium. By defining a second as the number of these transitions (where an electron ‘quantum jumps’ between shells in an atom after gaining or losing a specific amount of energy), time can be so accurately measured that only a tiny portion of a second is lost every million years. The definition of a second is currently defined as 9,192,631,770 transitions within a caesium atom.

Notes:

Folksonomies: measurement second

Taxonomies:
/technology and computing/hardware/computer components/chips and processors (0.514832)
/science (0.334622)
/technology and computing (0.222885)

Keywords:
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Entities:
million years:Quantity (0.010000 (neutral:0.000000)), 60 minutes:Quantity (0.010000 (neutral:0.000000)), 60 seconds:Quantity (0.010000 (neutral:0.000000)), 24 hours:Quantity (0.010000 (neutral:0.000000)), one day:Quantity (0.010000 (neutral:0.000000))

Concepts:
Earth (0.951619): dbpedia | freebase
Moon (0.900674): dbpedia | freebase
Sun (0.865335): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Classical mechanics (0.743441): dbpedia | freebase
Atom (0.633463): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Aristotle (0.619253): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc | yago
Equator (0.612674): dbpedia | freebase
Rotation (0.590741): dbpedia | freebase

 How long is a second?
Electronic/World Wide Web>Internet Article:  O'Callaghan, Jonny (February 18, 2012), How long is a second?, Retrieved on 2014-11-14
  • Source Material [www.howitworksdaily.com]
  • Folksonomies: time measurement