Talk:Pendulum clock

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If 1656 was the date of the invention of hte first pendulum clock, then they have not been around "since ancient times". Nik42 04:02, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Any one willing to put something in about clock work? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.129.45.215 (talk) 11:45, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

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[edit] Copyright problems?

I've submitted the possible problem, then I did this: Googling these two strings with quotes, first from the about.com site "This allows the master pendulum" and this slightly different string from the article: "This allowed the master pendulum" both give many copies of the disputed text. It's hard to know which one would legitimately hold the copyright, or if it's public domain and now on sites that surely claim copyright to all their material such as about.com. Now I don't know if I did the right thing.

[edit] A couple of comments

  1. According to R.T.Gould ("the Marine Chronometer") the mercury bob pendulum came before the gridiron, but the gridiron worked better if the temperature changes rapidly.
  2. I don't see how the grasshopper escapement is an exception to the general description (which is excellent). The animation referenced in the Grasshopper escapement article shows that. If you meant to say that there are escapements where the impulse to the pendulum does not directly come from the gear train, that's true -- those are gravity escapements. The Big Ben escapement is a classic example, and so is the Shortt clock. I don't think the Grasshopper is, though. Actually, a gravity escapement could be viewed as the limiting case of a remontoire -- rewound each tick.
  3. Nice description of the Shortt clock. It would be worthwhile to mention that it's a derivative of the Synchronome, invented by Frank Hope-Jones. Both are described in Hope-Jones's book "Electric Timekeeping". Paul Koning

[edit] Fedchenko?

Is there a source for the Fedchenko clock? The Shortt clock is well documented but I haven't succeeded in finding details about Fedchenko's clock. The one article I found (about a hobbyist's copy of the design) didn't sound like anything that could come close to challenging the Shortt clock. Paul Koning 16:44, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Torsion-spring pendulum or Torsion pendulum?

Hope this isn't nitpicking, but I think the more widely-used term for this type of pendulum is 'torsion pendulum', although 'torsion-spring pendulum' is more specific and distinguishes it better from the ordinary type of pendulum. I googled both terms and there are a lot more webpages that refer to 'torsion pendulum' clocks. Also, there is a Torsion pendulum clock article that should be linked to this section. What about changing the name of this well-written section to Torsion pendulum? --Chetvorno 21:18, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't think either name makes sense. The object described there is a balance, not a pendulum. So I would call it either torsion balance, or torsion spring balance -- because the thing is a balance and its balance spring is a torsion spring. Paul Koning 14:26, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
I think the difference is functional, not structural. Torsion pendulums used in scientific experiments as sensitive balances to measure forces, as in the Cavendish experiment, are generally called torsion balances. Torsion pendulums used as harmonic oscillators, for their vibrating, timekeeping properties, as in anniversary clocks are called torsion pendulums. --Chetvorno 14:01, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
I hope no one minds, I changed the term. --Chetvorno 14:01, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "pushes"?

Is there a good reason to use the fuzzy term "pushes" instead of the precise term "impulses"? Paul Koning (talk) 12:00, 30 November 2007 (UTC)