Clockwise clocks: The ultimate error

[Adder]

Why do clocks turn clockwise (or to the right)?

In mathematics, this would be a negative rotation. But that’s just math, right? Well... no.
The world spins anti-clockwise when viewed from above (over the north pole). So why did we choose to reverse this natural turn of time? Was it because:

1. It was believed the earth was the center and the sun spun around us. That would mean the sun looked as if it were moving clockwise.
Okay, it makes sense. But how many clocks were built before 1630? (Kepler’s death)
And wouldn’t we just correct the error afterwards, like with the leap-year correction of 11 "lost" days.

2. Who cares?! It’s not like that’s the only mistake with time. Why are the months sometimes 30 and sometimes 31 days long? And then there’s February!
Yeah, time is pretty screwed. But what can you do when a day is 24 hours and a true year is 365.25 days long.


Clocks: The solution?
Metric time.
1.Allow a day to be divided into 10 units, and give these a name (from now on, "y").
2.Allow each unit to be divided into 10, keep these as serconts (or something similar).
3.Allow each sercont to be divided into 100, and also give these a name ("x").
Create a clock with 3 hands. The face should be divided into 10. The hands should move counter clockwise in the ratio if 1:10:1000.
A normal clock uses 1:60:3600
It takes 216,000 seconds to make the hour hand move around a full circle.
It would take 10,000 "x"’s for the smallest hand to move around once.

So how long would each unit be? Well, keeping AM and PM we get:

1.2 hours = 1 "y"
8 minutes = 1 serconts
4.8 seconds = 1 "x"

This isn’t too good for small time, but when you look at decimalisation of money, it makes sense to change time.
The week has a lot of religious meaning so we’ll keep the 7 days.
But what about months?
365.25 days can’t be changed; it IS a year (the leap year is made by adding up the extra ¹/₄ of a day over 4 years)
So maybe months should be kept the way they are... for now at least.

Time frame:

This would mean the average pulse is 5.76 per "x", or 576 per sercont.
A song would be about 43.75 "x"’s long (3:30)
A week is 70 "y"’s long.
The inner-city speed limit would be 36 mp"y" (or 58 kp"y") (30mph)


Final note: Yes, I do have too much free time to think.

[Nath]

Ok. I have no idea what you are talking about with the time thing, but with the months, the only reason they are like what they are is because hundreds, or maybe thousands of years ago certain people would think of themselves as being really important to the world, and so they had months named after themselves (or summing like that), with february being the only original month, they took days out of that, and took away a couple of other months.
(I don't know if any of you understand what I have just said, but as I was typing it, it made sense.)

[Wil]

Splitting the day into metric time is easy. Thousands of people have done that, myself included. It's making metric the entire year that's the problem. Whittling 12 months down to 10 wouldn't be too difficult. Keep in mind that there are actually 365.2421 days in a year, though.

[Forbidden Paradise]

Thanks for the info, I will now sleep easier at nights knowing the truth. Or at least an extended version of the truth, that and all the formulaes and info I learned in year 12 Physics/Maths 1.

[Fez]

ARGH! too much numbers!

[Facsimile]

1. It should go clockwise because we read left to right, like at the start of the clock.
2. The real question is why is 12, the highest number, considered the first?
3. Them people from the old days, forget the names of them, were fascinated by the number 60, that's how we got the seconds and minutes. I guess the rest just fitted in.

[Cloverfield]

*skips past all those figures and stuff as it hurts her brain*

Originally posted by Facsimile
2. The real question is why is 12, the highest number, considered the first?

I used to wonder this also, but if you look at 24 hour time it makes more sense. As when it hits midnight, you go back to 00, not to 24. So when you go to 12, it is really zero, and you are counting upwards from there. 12:01, 12:02 .... 12:59, etc. Although I guess that still does't make sense as to why they don't just make it zero once it gets to 12:01. LOL

Abe Babe...

[Nath]

I walked into a clock shop once and I asked them for the time, they told me to f***k off. Which brings me to this, what do you make of sun dials then, I know how to work them, but they use the sun light, not mechanical hands. It isn't as if you can do a count down with a sun dial.

[MasterChief]

why do we go form 12 am then 1,2,3,4, then to 12 again? i tjhink we should start and 0am then go to 24 pm

[Abeguy]

im to confused to give a rip or to know what you're trying to say for that matter

and to answe you Q: on the 24 thing, that army time and some watches can do that

[GrigtheSlig]

My watch can do that! But I like the way it is! That stuff is kinda wierd if you think about it, so I don't want to! But thanx for the info! I'm just more confused than I already am!

ME!---> <---ME!

[MasterChief]

im very confused too, i dont think we should have ne more clockwise error topics

[Joshy]

Too late to change it now. Anyways it would cause too much fuss to change it all.

[Abeguy]

than close this topic (just a seggestion) you don't have to agree with me

[MrBoj]

The world spins anti-clockwise when viewed from above (over the north pole). So why did we choose to reverse this natural turn of time?

well, the natural rotation of the world is neither clockwise or counterclockwise (anticlockwise as you called it) We as humans just choose to call the "north" pole north and south pole "south". The north pole itself is not stable, as it actually fluctuates. (the electromagnetic field is not stable, but thios only happens in thousand year intervals or so. It isn't something to concern yourself over) Direction in space is all arbitrary clockwise and and counterclockwise are both relative.

that whole metric time thing would never work witht he populous. It would be like telling people blue is now called green and green is now called blue. Yes, the earth revolves around the earth 365.2421.....days, but who said a day was 24 hours? that would be the amount of time the sun would cross point A in the sky and then return to that point again. Round this amount of time off, and you get roughly 365 days per revolution....per year. add an extra day each 4 years you get even closer. There will always be error, regardless of what you do.

So it really isn't worth it to change.....but it sure is worth it to discuss! don't lock this!

Okay, it makes sense. But how many clocks were built before 1630? (Kepler’s death)

does this imply that Kepler discovered that the earth revolved around the sun? I believe that Copernicus was the one to propose this idea.....and a ancient Greek did so before him, but I forget his name (obvious the Ptolemiac model lasted throughout the medieval ages) Kepler discovered that the planets revolve in an ellipse each, not perfect circles.