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Why We Keep Things We Never Use & The Reason We Keep Track of Time

Something You Should Know

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What Is an Atomic Clock?

An atomic clock is, it might better be thought of as a light clock. The idea is that the electrons inside an atom have the certain allowed energy states and they absorb or emit light when moving from one state to another. What the clock actually is is a source of micro waves at a particular frequency. It's a nine billion, 192 million, 631 thousand, 770 oscillations per second. And you make micro waves at that frequency and shine them on sesium atoms and see what do te sesiumatomic atoms absorbing? If got the frequency exactly right, then the seasim atoms all move from oneState to another. You say, ok, the clock's working well.

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