CritABCD
A.1 · 2 · Opening of A.1 Kinematics · link to periodic motion (Theme C)

Repeating motion and the birth of clocks

How repetition gave us a way to measure time.

SL+HLMedium14 minFree
Hook

Before watches and phones, how did anyone know how long a day, a month or a year was?

Follow the arrows
1 / 4

Does it repeat?

REPETITIVE MOTIONstep 1 of 3
Is the object making repetitive motion?
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Which is a man-made periodic motion?

Check 2 of 3

A pendulum takes 2.0 s per complete swing. Its frequency is…

Check 3 of 3

Why did people move from natural to man-made periodic motion?

Apply

Explain why a pendulum is a better timekeeper than the moon’s phases.

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Remember earlier lessons
From lesson A.1 · 1

Motion means…

From lesson 0.3

The SI base unit of time is…

Summary card

Key points

  • • Repeating motion is periodic.
  • • Natural periodic motion first measured time, but not precisely.
  • • Pendulums and quartz are precise.

Formulas

  • f = 1/T
  • T = 2π√(L/g)

Key terms

Period T
:
time for one repeat
Frequency f
:
repeats per second

Common errors

  • • Mixing up period and frequency.
  • • Using big swings with the simple formula.
Checks solved: 0 of 3