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Aug 25, 2015, 05:12 PM
#1
Uh oh...
Clock shock: British admit Big Ben's bongs not quite on time
August 25, 2015 10:51 AM EST
LONDON (AP) Don't set your watch by Big Ben.
Officials say the famous clock at Britain's Parliament used by Londoners for decades to check the time has recently been slow by as much as six seconds.
The 156-year-old clock chimes every 15 minutes and emits deep bongs to mark the hour. Its inaccuracy was noticed by staff at BBC radio, which broadcasts the bongs live at 6 p.m.
Ian Westworth, one of Parliament's three clocksmiths, told the BBC the clock had become "a little temperamental" with age. "Imagine running your car for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the last 156 years," he said.
Parliamentary officials said Tuesday that mechanics had corrected the clock to within "normal parameters" within 2 seconds of the right time. They will continue to adjust it by placing pennies on the pendulum or removing them to fine-tune its speed.
Parliament's neo-Gothic clock tower is one of London's most recognizable landmarks, and its bell is one of London's characteristic sounds. The famous bongs echoed through the city without fail through World War II bombing raids, though they have been silenced a few times for repairs, and by accident or the weather.
Although the clock tower is popularly known as Big Ben, the name actually refers to the 13 ½- ton Great Bell inside. The tower was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne.
Well, plus or minus two seconds would put it in certified chronometer territory...
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Aug 25, 2015, 05:17 PM
#2
Curious. Perhaps I'm misremembering my high school physics, but...I was under the impression that the speed of a pendulum depended on it's LENGTH, and was largely independent of WEIGHT.
Can someone better versed in clock pendulum mechanics set me straight, please?
La lutte elle-mκme vers les sommets suffit ΰ remplir un cur d'homme; il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux.
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Aug 25, 2015, 05:43 PM
#3
'On top of the pendulum is a small stack of old penny coins; these are to adjust the time of the clock. Adding a coin has the effect of minutely lifting the position of the pendulum's centre of mass, reducing the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings. Adding or removing a penny will change the clock's speed by 0.4 seconds per day'
- Big Ben's wiki entry
Also, for all you ever wanted to know about Big Ben, from The Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...e-7578555.html
Last edited by OhDark30; Aug 25, 2015 at 05:47 PM.
It's the final countdown! PM me before they're all gone!
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Aug 25, 2015, 05:45 PM
#4
The pennies are added to the top of the pendulum and raise the CoM of the Bob (albeit minutely) effectively adjusting the length of the pendulum.
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Aug 25, 2015, 05:47 PM
#5
The Dude Abides
If Ben does not bong when beckoned, I am bummed.....
"Either He's Dead, Or My Watch Has Stopped....."
Groucho Marx
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Aug 25, 2015, 06:11 PM
#6
No, no, no, no, no.... This is wrong, just plain wrong.
Big Ben is right, always. Can't help it if the rest of the universe is outside of COSC. The universe just needs to adjust itself...
Goodness gracious!
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Aug 25, 2015, 09:15 PM
#7
Evolutionary Deadend
Originally Posted by
mlcor
Clock shock: British admit Big Ben's bongs not quite on time
August 25, 2015 10:51 AM EST
LONDON (AP) — The tower was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne.
.
Goodness - haven't you people heard of FIBER?
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Aug 25, 2015, 09:27 PM
#8
Originally Posted by
mlcor
Clock shock: British admit Big Ben's bongs not quite on time
Hey ma'an.... like... Let's not get too heavy... I mean, when it comes to bongs.... I'm so, like, totally flexible, you know ?
Some people have opinions - The rest of us have taste.
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Aug 25, 2015, 09:33 PM
#9
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Aug 25, 2015, 09:37 PM
#10
Originally Posted by
Seriously
Take a deep pull on the bong, and forget about Big Ben's transgressions against time in recent weeks
Must be a relative no-news Newsday today
Just trying to liven things up around here.
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