Time Telling through the AgesBrearley, Harry Chase
History
Time Telling through the Ages
Brearley, Harry Chase
Clocks and watches -- History; Time measurements
After the balance has been started, its momentum at each turn starts
the lever when the jewel-pin strikes it, but unless the balance was
constantly supplied with new power it would soon stop, and the watch
would not run. It will be noticed, however, from the illustration, that
the teeth of the escape-wheel are peculiar in shape and very different
from those of the other wheels. The ends of the pallet-jewels are also
cut at a peculiar angle.
Now, each time just before the jewel-pin starts to shift the lever from
one side to the other, the latter is in such a position that one of the
pallet-jewels is thrust in so that its side is against that of one of
the teeth of the escape-wheel, keeping it from turning. But the instant
the lever commences to move it begins to draw this pallet-jewel outward
from the tooth until the corner of the jewel passes the corner of the
tooth. Then the escape-wheel is released and the power that is behind
it makes it turn quickly, and on account of the shape of the tooth,
it gives the pallet-jewel a sharp push outward, swinging the lever,
causing it at the other end to impart a quick thrust to the jewel-pin,
thereby accelerating the speed of the balance and renewing its momentum.
Thus the balance receives the power to keep it in motion, swinging
it as far as the hairspring allows. The hairspring then reverses it
and swings it until the jewel-pin again starts the lever in the other
direction, releasing the escape-wheel from which it receives another
"impulse" and so on as long as the mainspring is kept wound. A watch in
perfect time ticks five times to the second. That means 18,000 swings
of the balance every hour, or 432,000 in a day. And in that time, the
rim of the balance travels about ten miles.
A clock is essentially only a larger and stronger watch, just as a
watch is a clock made small enough and light enough to be carried about
conveniently. But the working of the two is practically the same. They
are but different members of the same family, varying types of one
time-keeping machine which is among the most ingenious and valuable
things that man has made.
One interesting thing to know about a watch is that if it is keeping
good time, it will serve for a fairly accurate compass. So if you are
ever lost in the woods, your watch may help you out again. Lay it flat
face upward, and point the hour hand toward the sun. Then South will
be in the direction half way between the hour hand and the figure 12,
counting forward as the hands turn in the morning hours, and backward
in the afternoon. This is because the hour hand moves around the dial
just twice as fast as the sun moves around the sky, making a full
circle in twelve hours while the sun makes its half circle from horizon
to horizon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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