The Epistemology of Measurement
In Tal's article he presents us with the definition of a second. A second, since 1967, was defined as the duration of exactly 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to a hyperfine transition of caesium-133 in the ground state. This definition would be quite complicated and just words in a sentence to some, including myself, but luckily Tal eases it up by saying this definition describes to us two things- the standard second and explains that a frequency associated with an atom of caesium is uniform which tells us that the periods are equal to each other. Tal also explains that the caesium atom is at rest as zero degrees Kelvin, so under these ideal conditions of it this caesium atom would create a clock that is perfectly and completely stable.
The standard measurement of time used is universal time, UTC, and standard clocks adhere to this. UTC is made from a cooperative international effort that rely on state-of-the-art atomic clocks; what these clocks measure are the frequencies associated with specific atomic transitions. This includes the caesium atom mentioned earlier as this is what defines the second.
Hi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteYou should take a couple moments and look up the atomic clock. I think it summaries these views superiorly. Also, in this model electrons bounce from energy states, thus providing the release of tiny packets of energy called quanta that allow this clock to be stable. Do you think UTC is a smart idea to implement?
Hi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI liked your post a lot. What do you think is the issue though if all of the clocks measured its own time with their own data? You mentioned that the UTC is made from multiple atomic clocks, but ultimately the clocks need to be compared to one another to determine what the actual time is. What do you think might happen in the long run?