Hourglass - Sand Clock The Sand Clock is an instrument for measuring time, it is of ancient origin.

It can be designed for different time periods. It is a glass vessel which has two compartments. The uppermost compartment has a quantity of sand, water, or mercury which runs into the lower compartment during a period of time. The Sandglass was used by navies as a timekeeper and to find the speed of the ship. For measuring speed a log line was thrown overboard in which knots had been tied at regular intervals. By counting how fast the knots appeared, they could reckon how many "knots," or nautical miles an hour the ship traveled. The Sandglass was calibrated in seconds, or minutes or hours. For timekeeping the four-hour and half-hour Sandglass was used. The days at sea were divided into six four-hour WATCHES. The half-hour Sandglass was carefully tended, turning it as soon as the sand had run through and striking a bell for all aboard to hear. Likewise, at the end of four hours the hourglass was turned. This method of bell ringing and watches is still used aboard many ships to this day.

Build a Hourglass or Sand Clock.

Take two plastic bottles, put a small amount of sand in one of them, then place a piece of foil over the neck and punch a small hole in the foil. Now tape the two bottles together.

Water Clock or Clepsydras

Clep'sy'dras is a Greek word meaning kleptein,"to steal"; hydor,"water" Ancient water clocks from Egypt date back to 1400 BC. Ctesibius of Alexandria a Greek physicist and inventor improved the ancient Egyptian clepsydra in the 3rd century BC, in which water dripping into a container raised a float that carried a pointer to mark the hours. He attached a float with a rack that turned a toothed wheel where he put gadgets such as birds and ringing bells. The American Indian used a small boat as a water clock. There was a small hole to let water drip out and graduated lines on the inside of the boat to show the passing of time.. There have been water clocks that used a siphon to automatically recycle itself. Another interesting method was the cylinder into which water dripped from a reservoir with a float to provide readings against a scale on the cylinder wall. This cylinder water clock was used by the Romans. In the 16th century AD the Clepsydras were used by Galileo to time his experimental falling objects. Later in history an improved version was invented simular to the hourglass.

Sundial - Shadow Clock

Shadow Clock A vertical stick, gnomon, or obelisk that casts a shadow is a Sundial. and they were used as early as 3500 BC. In 1500 BC Egyptians had portable sundials. There is an Egyptian sundial from the 8th century BC that is still in existence.

Sundial Sundials tell Apparent sun time, while your clock tells Mean Solar Time. Four times yearly Sundials and clocks agree. However, the Sundial time is sometimes 16 minutes faster and sometimes 14 minutes slower than your clock time. This difference is known as "The Equation of Time". There are tables available to use for converting the Sundial time to your local Mean Solar time. Sunrise-Sunset Equation of Time-Sun's Declination The earliest sunset occurs around 8 December each year, and latest sunrise occurs around 5 January. The day with the least amount of daylight is the winter solstice, the first day of winter, around 21 December. The longest daylight occurs at the summer solstice. Solstice occurs around 21 June, The earliest sunrise occurs around 14 June and the latest sunset around 28 June. There are two main effects that determine the times of sunrise and sunset, one is the declination of the Sun and the second is the Equation of Time, which is made up of the non-circular orbit of the Earth and the obliquity of the ecliptic. In January the Earth is closer to the Sun and is moving fastest in its orbit and in June it is farthest from the sun and moving slower.