Why do watches turn clockwise but the sun travels in an anti-clockwise direction?

Question

Since without a watch one assumes a vague time from the position of the sun in the sky, why does the sun's point on the compass not actually match the position of the hour hand on the clock?

Any astronomical and historical explanations will be appreciated. Thanks x

Answer 1

The first / original watches were sundials.

When the sun appeared to travelcounterclockwise the shadows travelled clockwise. (Rememver its the earth rotating not sun travelling).

The watches today are still based upon sundials and therefore the second / minute and hour hands follow the same concept and travel clockwise.

Answer 2

The first timepiece was a sundial, which goes clockwise, and the first mechanical clocks were made in that image. Of course not all clocks rotate.
Looking at the sun as a means of telling the tome assumes you have some idea of the compass headings. Alternatively, look at the sun at midday and you are facing south. So if you know the time, you can work out the compass bearing.

Answer 3

The hour hand goes round TWICE in one day. The sun only appears to go round ONCE, remember that it's the earth orbiting the sun and not vice-versa. Also the actual rotational period of the earth is not exactly 24 hours, and for more reasons than I can be bothered to go into here the sun's position in the sky at any given time changes slightly each day. In the Northern Hemisphere the sun's travel appears clockwise, so are you in the Southern Hemisphere?

Answer 4

Since the sun moves in an anti-clockwise direction, then the sun's SHADOW on a sundial moves in the opposite direction.

Sundials were the first clocks.

(Yes, I know that the sun doesn't actually "move", it is the Earth that rotates, but that is not relevant to the explanation. It is the movement of the SHADOW that counts, since a shadow is the sundial's "hand").

Answer 5

the sun only appears to travel in an anti-clockwise direction from certain points of view.
From others it appears clockwise. And still others it appears that it doesn't move at all.

However, watches spin clockwise because that is the direction that the shadows of sundials move in the northern hemisphere.

If you look at a map, you will see that most land, and thus most civilization, is in the northern hemisphere. Thus the "standard" for sundial shadow travel.

Answer 6

Watches were originally invented by Aborigines in Australia and as a result all watches in the northern hemisphere go the wrong way in their honour. That's also the reason why boomerangs spin anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere. If you ever get the chance to throw one in Australia you'll realise it spins in the opposite direction down under.

Answer 7

Anticlockwise Watch

Answer 8

You have too many questions to be very accurate on anyone of them as well as a faulty assumption or two but i'll try

because we read left to right ?

or is it thats the way the shadow progresses around the first sundials?

magnetic north and south has to do with the mag. field of the earth not time

Answer 9

wouldn't your position to the equator have something to do with the appearance of the sun's travel. What if you were in the southern hemisphere?

Answer 10

I don't want to give a long answer as others have given great ones but I remember my geography teacher shouting the the Earth travels weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (west to east)