Classrooms Get Atomic Clocks

This spring, the University began installation into classrooms of a system of highly accurate clocks dubbed "atomic" clocks, said Jim MacFarquhar, the director of buildings services.

The clocks will receive signals from the U.S. Atomic Clock in Colorado, MacFarquhar said.

That clock, operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is one of the most accurate clocks in the world, according to the NIST Web site.

UNC physics Professor Sean Washburn said such clocks can maintain time accurate to a billionth of a second. He said the principle behind the atomic clock is that it keeps time by counting the vibrations of light given off by atoms in a glass tube.

Despite the name, MacFarquhar said there is nothing actually atomic about the clocks that UNC installed.

"We just have what looks like a standard classroom wall clock," he said. "(But these clocks) receive a low-frequency radio signal."

MacFarquhar said the idea sprang from former Student Body President Brad Matthews, whose platform included putting a clock in every classroom.

In considering the idea, University officials decided that atomic clocks would best meet their needs, he said. The clocks, powered by batteries that can last up to six years, will also automatically switch themselves over for daylight-saving time.

"We also had to address the issue of where to locate the clocks," MacFarquhar added.

While some faculty members were reluctant to have clocks at all, most preferred them in the back of the classrooms. Students wanted clocks in the front, MacFarquhar said. In most classrooms, the clocks were installed on the side walls.

There is not an atomic clock in every classroom, but UNC has installed more than 300 such clocks.

Though the University chose the clocks for their convenience, the technology is an update for the campus. But some say the accuracy might be irrelevant.

Washburn said such specific timepieces are not a necessity on campus right now. "There's no immediate need for it," he said. "Humans have no use for clocks that are accurate to a billionth of a second."

Emily Drum can be reached at edrum@email.unc.edu.