Q:
Which one of the following elements is used as a timekeeper in atomic clocks?
Answer & Explanation
Answer: B) Caesium
Explanation: When exposed to certain frequencies of radiation, such as radio waves, the subatomic particles called electrons that orbit an atom's nucleus will "jump" back and forth between energy states. Clocks based on this jumping within atoms can therefore provide an extremely precise way to count seconds.It is no surprise then that the international standard for the length of one second is based on atoms. Since 1967, the official definition of a second is 9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation that gets an atom of the element called caesium to vibrate between two energy states.
View Answer
Report Error
Discuss