Winding your clock actually winds an internal mainspring.
How does a wall clock work.
Physical harmonic oscillator is the key component of every modern clock.
A dial and hands that indicate the time.
Clocks are one of the very first complex machines created by humans.
Timepiece image gallery clocks come in many different forms from quartz watches to atomic clocks.
When you wind a weight driven clock you pull on a cord that lifts the weight.
To speed the clock up the pendulum bob should be raised up by turning the nut to the right.
Initially they all had pendulums and gears.
Perhaps the most important component inside a mechanical clock is known as the escapement.
To slow the clock down the pendulum bob should be lowered by turning the nut to the left.
When it is wound energy is transferred from our muscles and into the driving weight as it moves up against the force of gravity or the mainspring as it tightens up.
Here are some of the most common oscillators.
Winding the clock raises the weight back up storing more potential energy to power the mechanism.
As we will see in a moment the clock uses that potential energy as the weight falls to drive the clock s mechanism.
A summary of how clocks work.
Every mechanical clock needs energy to run.
One turn of the nut should impact the clock by about two minutes in a 24 hour period.
A rubber ball when held at a certain height above the ground has a certain amount of potential energy which rapidly converts to kinetic energy after it is dropped.
When the mainspring slowly unwinds it puts a series of parts in motion which results in the turning of the gears.
The energy is usually stored in a weight or spring.
Take a peek under the hood and learn what makes each kind tick.
In summary then the key parts of a pendulum clock are.
That gives the weight potential energy in the earth s gravitational field.
Atomic clocks are designed to measure the precise length of a second the base unit of modern timekeeping the international system of units si defines the second as the time it takes a caesium 133 atom in a precisely defined state to oscillate exactly.
Caesium clocks in braunschweig germany.
This is the same principle on which every pendulum clock on earth works.
All machines including timekeepers need energy to work.