what is a second? We say 1 second 2 second...etc. But what really is this "second"?
2007-07-23 06:08:07 · 8 answers · asked by ~sword~ 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
The second is a unit of measurement of time, we all know it is 1/60th of a minute and 1/3600 of an hour, but it doesn't help to define a unit of time simply in relation to other units of time. What is a minute? What is an hour?
The actual definition of a second in what is called the "International System of Units", a globally accepted standard of measurements, is based upon the actions of a certain type of atom. This atom is Caesium-133, and it was chosen because it has a very standard and predictable and measurable radiation, and it is this radiation that defines a second.
A second is: 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation of the Caesium-133 atom at absolute zero.
It is called a second because it was originally referred to as the "second minute" meaning a further subdivision of the hour. The reason that they are both 60's comes from the Babylonians, to whom 60 was as "perfect" as we consider 100 today.
2007-07-23 06:17:59 · answer #1 · answered by Nunayer Beezwax 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
A second is a measure of time. It is used like a graph. Suposedly things happen in a linear fashion. So reality and all of its event would be the line while a second would be the unit of measurement of the graph. So it is just like a ruler, but instead of inches or cm, it is seconds.
2007-07-23 13:40:11 · answer #2 · answered by lufiabuu 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to the International System of Units, a second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom at 0 K and outside of the influence of a magnetic field.
Duh. ( :
2007-07-23 13:13:27 · answer #3 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
a second is 1/60th of a minute....1/3600th of an hr....1/86400th of a day...1/604800th of a week...1/216000th of a month...1/32850000th of a year.....what the hell is all this mean anyway?
2007-07-23 14:53:22 · answer #4 · answered by CuriousG 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A unit of measurement; one minute contains 60 seconds; one degree contains 3600 seconds.
2007-07-23 13:13:12 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
a small unit of time, 1/3600 of an hour really.
2007-07-23 13:10:55 · answer #6 · answered by lexie 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a measure of time, one 60th of a minute.
2007-07-23 13:15:57 · answer #7 · answered by worldstiti 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a time u do not need at all!!!!
2007-07-23 13:59:32 · answer #8 · answered by harijanti 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋