How Does a Pendulum Clock Work?

HOW DOES A PENDULUM CLOCK WORK? XII There is a lot more happening inside a clock than you might expect. While battery-operated clocks are convenient, you can't beat the beauty & mystery behind the mechanics of a pendulum clock. Wondering how pendulum clocks work? My Cuckoo Clocks uncovers just what makes these timekeepers tick in this graphic. WHAT IS A PENDULUM? A pendulum consists of a rod that hangs vertically from its top end (or a weight called a bob hanging from a string) that swings from side to side due to the force of gravity. For relatively small swings, the time (T) it takes to make one complete swing (known as the period) is provided by this little equation: Here, I is the length of the pendulum and g is a measure of gravity's strength (what we call the acceleration due to gravity). T=2 II THE PARTS OF A CLOCK anchor Pallet second hand escape wheel 12 main wheel 10 barrel pendulum driving weight minute hand hour hand 1. The dial and hands indicate the time. 2. The weight stores (potential) energy and releases it to the clock mechanism as it falls, very gradually, over the course of a day (or several days, if you're lucky). Winding the clock raises the weight back up, storing more potential energy to power the mechanism. 3. Power gears take energy from the falling weight and use it to drive the clock mechanism at the correct speed. With a really heavy weight & the right power gears, the weight will store enough energy to drive the clock for days without having to wind it up. 4. Timekeeping gears drive the hands around the clock face at different speeds. 5. The pendulum and escapement regulate the speed of the clock and keep it (more or less) constant. THE TIMING OF A PENDULUM CLOCK 10 9. 12 '4 65 In most wall clocks that use a pendulum, the pendulum swings once per second. In small cuckoO clocks, the pendulum might swing In large grandfather clocks, the pendulum swings once every two seconds. twice a second. DID YOU KNOW? Leonardo Da Vinci was the first to conceive of the pendulum during the Renaissance era. EYALD MANSER. Galileo conceived of using pendulums for timekeeping, though the invention of the pendulum clock is attributed to Christiaan Huygens in 1656. point of suspension Since gravity is constant at any given spot on the planet, the only thing that affects the period of a pendulum is the length of the pendulum, nof the length of the arc that the pendulum swings through. length equilibrium As the pendulum swings from side to side, it rocks a lever called an "escapement" that locks and then unlocks the part of the mechanism driven by the falling weight. It's this repeated locking and unlocking that makes the tick-tock sound you can hear. MyCuckooClocks.com SOURCES: http://atmega32-avr.com/how-pendulum-clocks-work/ http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-pendulum-clocks-work.html http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/clocks-watches/clock.htm http://www.1001wallclocks.com/blog/2011/12/10-interesting-facts-about-clocks/ BRIM AGENCÝ IV