How Does a Quartz Watch Work
How Does a Quartz Watch Work?
Peng Shao
SPH 3U1
Mr. Harwood
December 19, 2011
Background Before quartz watch, to get accurate time, people use pendulum clocks and mechanical watches. The trouble with them is that they will stop if people cannot remember to wind them. They are also not absolutely accurate because their dependence on the force of gravity which is a little different between places with different altitudes, as well as the length of pendulums is effected by temperature.
A Quartz Watch All these problems are solved by quartz watch. Quartz watches which are battery powered use so little electricity that a battery are usually be used for years. It is also more accurate because the force of gravity and swinging pendulum are not applied in it. Now, exactly, the world's most widely used timekeeping technology is quartz timekeeper, used in whether clocks, watches, or computers.
Quartz Crystal
Quartz Crystal In fact, quartz crystal is a compound called silicon dioxide, just like common sand, so that it is unaffected by most solvents and remains crystalline to hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit. For the most important, it has a property that it generates a charge or voltage on its surface to produce a tiny electric current when the quartz is compressed or bent. This amazing phenomenon is called the piezoelectric effect. The opposite which is called the reverse piezoelectric effect states that it will vibrates at a precise frequency if you pass electricity through quartz.
In Quartz Watch Quartz is used as an oscillator which is an intimate part of the circuit, wired into it by two electrodes in a quartz watch. In another word, quartz crystal oscillator is just one of the components wired into the microchip circuit.
The Internal Structure of Quartz Watch The diagram above is very helpful to explain how the quartz watch works. In fact, there are two separate circuits on a same microchip in a quartz watch. The first circuit, which is called the
Peng Shao
SPH 3U1
Mr. Harwood
December 19, 2011
Background Before quartz watch, to get accurate time, people use pendulum clocks and mechanical watches. The trouble with them is that they will stop if people cannot remember to wind them. They are also not absolutely accurate because their dependence on the force of gravity which is a little different between places with different altitudes, as well as the length of pendulums is effected by temperature.
A Quartz Watch All these problems are solved by quartz watch. Quartz watches which are battery powered use so little electricity that a battery are usually be used for years. It is also more accurate because the force of gravity and swinging pendulum are not applied in it. Now, exactly, the world's most widely used timekeeping technology is quartz timekeeper, used in whether clocks, watches, or computers.
Quartz Crystal
Quartz Crystal In fact, quartz crystal is a compound called silicon dioxide, just like common sand, so that it is unaffected by most solvents and remains crystalline to hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit. For the most important, it has a property that it generates a charge or voltage on its surface to produce a tiny electric current when the quartz is compressed or bent. This amazing phenomenon is called the piezoelectric effect. The opposite which is called the reverse piezoelectric effect states that it will vibrates at a precise frequency if you pass electricity through quartz.
In Quartz Watch Quartz is used as an oscillator which is an intimate part of the circuit, wired into it by two electrodes in a quartz watch. In another word, quartz crystal oscillator is just one of the components wired into the microchip circuit.
The Internal Structure of Quartz Watch The diagram above is very helpful to explain how the quartz watch works. In fact, there are two separate circuits on a same microchip in a quartz watch. The first circuit, which is called the