https://time.gov/
>>16807484if you are a laymen, just look at a clock. if you are a scientist, it depends how precise you need to bepeople used half-decay of atoms to have precision. however, in our days i like the idea of using time crystals for time precision
>>16807484It depends on what you mean by that question. If you mean "in practical terms" as opposed to a scientific situation, I set my wristwatch's time by visiting https://time.is which utilizes atomic time and tells you the Internet connection delay normally in milliseconds, and then you just try to correctly time the seconds on the screen with a wristwatch's seconds hand at 12. You have to set the time precisely the first times in order to find out after awhile if your wristwatch's seconds hand goes quicker or slower than the reference time, after a month if you will (if it's a quartz watch, if it's a mechanical watch then maybe after a week or less), and how many seconds are either lapsed or skipped. Then you adjust accordingly the next month (or week), meaning, if after a month your wristwatch (quartz-based) skips 5 seconds, the next time you set the time you can decide to set it 5 seconds earlier than the reference time, and viceversa. So it will gradually adjust on its own. Quartz wrist watches are the most accurate, more than automatics and mechanicals, and also the cheapest to replace and most durable.What I don't get is how atomic time was set in the first place, and how people set their pocket watches' time before computers and the Internet. I think they did it with train station clocks, but then how were those clocks set?And since mankind's quintessential time reference is the Sun's movement itself, maybe the most accurate time is that of a precision Sun dial, at least in analog form....First result after looking up "most accurate time" with the Startpage search engine:https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2025/07/nist-ion-clock-sets-new-record-most-accurate-clock-world>This “quantum logic clock,” under continuous development for 20 years, relies on quantum computing techniques that pair an electrically charged aluminum atom (ion) with a magnesium ion.
We measure time by “ticks” think of a drummer keeping a beat. They’ve determined the ticks (hertz) Cesium 133 puts out exactly 1 second which is 9,192,631,770 hz. That’s what our atomic clocks use to measure time. Most clocks and watches use quartz which is 32,768hz. Their drums don’t beat near as much per second to be as accurate but good enough for most people. There anre some “super quartz” time pieces that have very high made crystals made along with a controller to adjust for temperature to get them about 5 seconds a year accurate. And if you’re a hipster the typical mechanical watch is 3-5hz. If you want the most accurate time piece (besides your phone) it would be a radio clock/watch that gets its time from an atomic clock station or a gps clock/watch that gets time from gps satellites. A whole other matter is the time of the actual rotation of the earth. Typically the earth is slower than our calendar setup so they’ve added a second every few years but now the earth is rotating faster to the point they should subtract a second but they’re still debating on bothering.
There must be a galaxy out there tellin" time!
>>16807484Time for who?
Measure quazars to get cosmic time
To count the pasage of time you need a clock. A clock can count constant things in the pysical world. Like a swinging pendelum or some atomic frequency.To make time from that you add up couter time intervalls and add them up from a defind point in time. Like the brith of a King or God or the 1.1.1970 like we do in unix.If you want to share one clock with many people ntp works well and amolst never fucks up^^ It a Labor setup you
>>16807525Astronomy, and they had constant communication with anyone having clocks like train stations, there were also Timekeepers who coordinated time calibrations. So the rest of the people would occasionally update their watches before heading out or at arrival.There was also the Time Balls, which started working during the 19th century specially on ports so ships could observe them with no need to dock and sync their marine chronometers.https://youtu.be/vO6P6iyaOC0?t=222
>>16807546>Most clocks and watches use quartz which is 32,768hz. Their drums don’t beat near as much per second to be as accurate but good enough for most people.Accuracy is not related to the frequency of the oscillator.
>>16807978for you
