How do atomic clocks work?

Atomic clocks are among the most accurate timekeepers in human history. Just how precise are they and how do they work? read more

With an error of only 1 second in up to 100 million years, atomic clocks are among the most accurate timekeeping devices in history. Caesium clocks in Braunschweig, Germany. read more

Other electronics in the atomic clock count this frequency. As with a single swing of the pendulum, a second is ticked off when the frequency count is met. The first quality atomic clocks made in the 1950s were based on cesium, and such clocks honed to greater precisions over the decades remain the basis used to keep official time throughout the world. read more