How accurate are atomic clocks??

Discussion in 'Physics & Math' started by Prosoothus, May 26, 2002.

  1. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    This reference to absolute space almost made me stop reading, but the next paragraph confirmed that I should, so I read no more of this nonsense. Your "next paragraph", plausible sounding to the ignorant, but entirely, false was:
    I have no idea what you stated after that as I do have this policy about not eating all of a rotten egg.
     
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  3. IceAgeCivilizations Banned Banned

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    At the current rate of the slowdown of the Earth's spin, about 30 millions years ago, a day would have been about four hours long, another reason that the Earth and universe are much younger than commonly advertised.
     
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  5. Pete It's not rocket surgery Registered Senior Member

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    Why do you suspect that the average rate of the last 30 million years is equal to the current rate?
     
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  7. IceAgeCivilizations Banned Banned

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    Seems reasonable.
     
  8. CANGAS Registered Senior Member

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    And I have no idea what any of your post was, for the same reason.
     
  9. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    CANGAS:

    I have no intention of replying to your comments about a post I wrote 6 years ago. Frankly, you're not worth the effort.
     
  10. CANGAS Registered Senior Member

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    If you ignore me, that works for me. Will you start soon?
     
  11. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    So, the Earth has been slowing down for 30 million years, in which the day was 4 hours long and is now 24 hours long? Yeah, that makes sense.

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  12. Walter L. Wagner Cosmic Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

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    Actually, the slowing of Earth's spin is well documented by a number of sources that agree relatively closely.

    The following web-sites detail this, and gives varying estimates ranging from .00001 seconds/year to .005 seconds/year.

    The fossil records correlate well with the projected past day-length, which might have been as short as 12 hours 4.5 billion years ago.

    www.creation-answers.com/slowing.htm

    http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CE/CE011.html

    Perhaps Ice Age meant they add a leap millisecond every 1 1/2 years, which is the way I usually hear it reported.
     
  13. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    I agree, but Ice's numbers are silly in the extreme.
     
  14. Janus58 Valued Senior Member

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    Even then, this only accounts for a difference of about 5.5 hrs over 30,000,000 years, for a day of a length of 19.5 hrs, not 4.

    Also, it should be noted that leap-seconds are not a measure of the rate at which the Earth is slowing, but are due to the fact that the new defintion of a second differs from the old defintion of 1/86400 of a solar day. The only time this was true was around 1820. Rather than constantly changing the length of the second, a fixed length was chosen that confirms closely to 1/86400 of a 1820 solar day. Since 1820, the solar day has increased by .002 seconds, which means that every solar day is now 86400.002 seconds long. And it is this difference of .002 seconds a day that results in the addition of the leap second every so often, not the slowing of the Earth's rotation from day to day.(Remember, it took almost 2 centuries for this 2 millisecond difference to form due to the Earth's slowing, but once it formed, it is the accumulation of this difference over the days that causes Solar time and standard time to drift apart. After one day they will be .002 sec apart, after two 0.004sec, after three .006 sec etc)
     
  15. Walter L. Wagner Cosmic Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

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    Thanks for the clarification, Janus.

    So, the Earth's daily rotation slowed down by .002 seconds in 200 years.

    Multiply that by 1,000,000, and projecting backwards, means that 200 million years ago, the Earth's daily rotation rate would have been about 2,000 seconds shorter than nowadays. That is, instead of 24 hours, it would have been 24 hours minus 2,000 seconds, or 24 hours minus 33 minutes; i.e. about 23 1/2 hours. Of course, that is assuming the decrease in the rate of spin would have remained absolutely constant, though that would not be the case due to the varying ice-packs at the poles, which would have impacted the tidal influence of the slow-down.

    So, Ice Age was correct that we constantly insert a leap-second every year or two, but his reasoning as to why such is done is faulty. It's not because the Earth is rapidly slowing down its spin, but because we're using the 1820 A.D. year-length as the original standard (which is now incorporated as an atomic time), which is only off by .002 seconds in the daily spin rate after almost 200 years
     

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