X Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2018

A clock is a device for measuring time within a day.

There are several types of watches:

-Sundial

-Full clock

-Mechanical watches

-Digital Watch

-Hourglass

-Wood watches

The first primitive concepts for measuring time (day, morning, day, noon, evening, night) were unconsciously suggested to the ancient people by the regular change of the season, the change of day and night, the movement of the Sun and the Moon along the celestial vault. As time went. Ways of measuring time gradually improved. For a long period people spent the calendar time measurement, counting the number of expired or forthcoming days. Primitive devices for counting down time were a strap with knots and a board with notches. Every day making a notch, a person could count the number of days that passed; untangling every day on a knot, it was possible to determine the number of the remaining days before any expected event.

Since ancient times, the change of day and night (day) served as a unit of measurement for relatively short intervals of time. The position of the Sun in the sky was used as the clockwise direction by which people determined the time in the daytime part of the day. It was the movement of the sun that formed the basis of the sun clock, which appeared about 5.5 thousand years ago. The principle of the action of the solar clock is based on the motion of the shadow cast by the fixed reference point during the day.

The sundial consists of a pointer that casts a shadow and plays the role of an arrow, as well as a dial with the divisions marking the hours of the day. Moving the arrow-shadow, reflecting the daily rotation of the Earth, allows you to determine the time.

Sundial - "Gnomon"

Sundial - the simplest device for counting time, they are usually called the ancient Greek name - the Gnomon.

By such a clock it was possible to determine the time to within an hour. Of course, it was possible to use such watches only during the daytime. The first gnomons were complex architectural structures in the form of high obelisks, covered by a semi-circle of stone pillars, which were the benchmark for time determination. Then the sundial became more perfect, diminished in size, and received a bar graph. Even pocket solar watches were known. Many of the first hours were long and true to man, but new, more convenient models appeared. The main drawback of sunny hours was absolute futility on a cloudy day or at night. Attempts to measure the night time led to the creation of a fiery clock.

Fire-watch

Fire (fire) watches measured the time by the amount of oil burnt in a lamp, or wax in a candle. The prevalence of the fire clock was so great that the time unit became a candle. To the question: - "What time?" Followed the answer: - "Two candles"; which corresponded to about three o'clock in the morning, as the whole night was divided into three candles. Such watches were cheap and convenient, but inaccurate. It was during these years that the alarm clock was invented for the first time. Naturally, it was fiery. The disadvantage of such watches was the unprofitability of their application in the daytime, and in addition, the accuracy of their readings was low because of the different burning rates of oil and wax in different lamps and candles.

Water clock - "Klepsydra"

The solar clock and the fire clock were replaced by a water clock 2,500 years ago. They were more accurate and perfect. These watches worked reliably both day and night. Their arrangement was simple: a vessel with a hole in the bottom and division on the walls, along which it is possible to monitor the fall of the water level. The vessel was made, as a rule, from metal, clay or glass, filled with water, which slowly, in a drop, flowed, lowering the water level, and the division on the vessel was determined for what hour.

The water clock quickly became popular. They were used both in home life, and in troops, government offices, schools. They were at hippodromes, stadiums and judicial institutions.

The water clock was called "Klepsydra", which in Greek means "Abductor." It is the klepsydra that we owe to the appearance of the expression "The flow of time".

In the richest trading city of Egypt - Alexandria klepsydra has received the greatest development. It was in Alexandria that the world's first watch workshops were opened that produced a variety of klepsydra. Crafters were engaged in the production of klepsydra, who were called masters of automatic water clocks. Most klepsydra were a complex automatic device, equipped with signaling mechanisms and a variety of moving figures that produced various movements at a certain hour. From this moment to the water clock the interest increased as the watch began to carry an entertaining function. The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) developed the technical and cultural traditions of antiquity, and the automatic water clock served as an ornament to many premises of the imperial palace in Constantinople.

Hourglass

The hourglass consists of two communicating vessels fixed in a wooden frame. The work of the hourglass is based on the pouring of exactly calibrated river sand from one vessel to another through a narrow hole, into one grain of sand at the same intervals, the principle of operation is identical to a water clock, but water and sand run from the vessel into the vessel.

The halves of the glass vessel had the shape of a bowl and were intended to measure insignificant intervals of time. Such watches could measure various time intervals from 15 minutes to several hours, which depends on the capacity of the vessels and the size of the hole between them. The drawback of this watch is the need to turn the hourglass after sand is poured from the upper vessel into the lower one.

Mechanical watches

The mechanical clock, in its device resembling modern, appeared in the 14th century.

These were huge heavy-weight mechanisms of the tower clock, which powered the weight suspended on the rope to the drive shaft of the mechanism. The regulator of the movement of these watches was the so-called spindle, which is a rocker with heavy weights, mounted on a vertical axis and alternately moved to the right or to the left. The inertia of the cargo had a retarding effect on the clockwork, slowing the rotation of its wheels. The accuracy of such a clock with a spindle regulator was low, and the daily error exceeded 60 minutes.

To further improve the watch, the discovery of the pendulum swing laws made by Galileo, who came up with the idea of ​​creating mechanical pendulum clocks, was of great importance. The real design of such watches appeared in 1658 thanks to the talented Dutch inventor and scientist Christian Huygens (1629-1695). He also invented a balance regulator, which allowed to create pocket and wristwatches. Moreover, the fundamental constructive scheme of which has remained almost unchanged in modern hours.

The clock today is not only an instrument necessary for determining the time of day, but also a sign of prestige and dignity, a style that has symbolic meaning. The clock has long ceased to perform its basic function, indicating the time - they are defending the right to aesthetic appeal and personal respect.

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