What is sundial

It is a tool used to indicate the time of the day by using the position of the sun and its cast
shadow.

How does it work

When the earth rotates about its axis, the sun appears to move across the sky, causing
objects to cast shadows. A sundial contains a gnomon, or a thin rod, that casts a shadow
onto a platform etched with different times. The dial and markings allowing you to gauge the
time. As the sun changes relative positions over the course of a day, the rods shadows
change as well, thus reflecting the change in time. In the morning, a shadow points to the west
as the sun rises in the east, gradually getting shorter and moving towards the north. After noon,
the shadow points eastwards, steadily lengthening as the sun moves towards sunset in the west.

How to make a sundial

1) Print a sundial and a gnomon with a lattitude of 13.75 degrees
2) Cut the sundial and the gnomon out
3) Glue them onto a hard paper or a paper box
4) Assemble them such that the gnomon is on the middle where it says, True North.
5) Decorate the Sundial

Introduction
Time - tommy
Early instrumentation - cliff
Sundial, waterclock, and sandclock comparison. - mai
Materials for making the sundials - jeen
Principle of sundials
Accuracy of Sundial - lilly
Advantages and disadvantages of Sundials - jeen

bibliography
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/time-experience/
https://www.sciencealert.com/what-is-time-and-why-does-it-move-forward
http://www.yalescientific.org/2008/11/how-do-sundials-work/
https://sites.google.com/a/brvgs.k12.va.us/wh-14-sem-1-greece-ogm/water-clock
 History of time measuring devices
History of Time

Time was originated by mans desire to

base his life on a regulated fixed system. In earlier

years, human did not have an organized way of

performing any daily routine and activities. People

simply practice certain tasks according to their

wish. Eventually, people became more organized in

their living, setting certain activities for certain

time. Some of the first people who contributed to

making the time measurement device were the egyptians. The Egyptians divided the day into two 12-

hour periods, and used large obelisks to track the movement of the sun. They also developed water

clocks, which were probably first used in the Precinct of Amun-Re, and later outside Egypt as well;

they were employed frequently by the Ancient Greeks, who called them clepsydre. The Zhou dynasty

is believed to have used the outflow water clock around the same time, devices which were introduced

from Mesopotamia as early as 2000 bc.

Other ancient timekeeping devices include the candle clock, used in ancient China, ancient

Japan, England and Mesopotamia; the timestick, widely used in India and Tibet, as well as some parts

of Europe; and the hourglass, which functioned similarly to a water clock. The sundial, another early

clock, relies on shadows to provide a good estimate of the hour on a sunny day. It is not so useful in

cloudy weather or at night and requires recalibration as the seasons change .

Early instrumentation

In ancient times, when humans utilize the Sun, Moon, and Stars to briefly indicate time

throughout the day, they have wondered about the pattern of time, how it works. Prehistoric people

have roughly estimate time that is they observed and recorded the moons movement in the night
sky, which they have found that a lunar cycle is the duration between two full moons, or new

moons. Furthermore, they have noticed that thirteen lunar cycles is equal to one earth year because

the seasons have repeated after completing this cycle. Equally important, there have been another

rough estimation of time which is to observe twelve different Zodiacal constellations, because these

constellations are settled along the ecliptic which makes them to vary in each month by having at least

one zodiacal constellation as a dominant constellation. Some of the time measuring devices that are

developed in these times include sundial, water clock, and sandclock.

Sundial

One of the first instrument to be

used in early age was Sundial. Sundials

are one of the oldest devices used to

measure time. The time measured

depends on the movement of the Sun

across the sky because time is observed

from the shadow casted on the ground.

As the sun moves from east to west, the

shadows formed predict the time of the

day. The Egyptians were the first to use the sundials. They used a stick or pillar called the gnomon.

The Egyptians built a t-shaped sundial comprising of a crossbar and a vertical stick. On the

stick, five hours were written. In the morning, the stick was placed facing east, and in the afternoon,

the stick was placed facing west. The Egyptians and Babylonians built obelisks to calculate time as

the shadows cast were similar to a sundial. It also helped to calculate the longest and shortest day of

the year. In time, Egyptians build portable sundials, a smaller version of the obelisks.

The sundials specify time by casting shadows or light on the base plate or faceplate. This

plate is flat but it can be shaped spherical, circular, conical or just about any shape. The face has

markings on it to indicate the time. Some sundials help calculate the dates and the dial may contain
multiple markings. In some cases, the dial may have settings to change the date so that time may be

calculated accordingly.

Water clock

Another instrument that prehistoric people invented to

measure time was the Water Clock which was discovered around

1500 BCE. In the ancient world, there were two forms of water

clocks: outflow and inflow. In an outflow water clock, the inside of

a container was marked with lines of measurement. The container

was filled with water, which was allowed to leak out at a steady

pace. Observers were able to tell time by measuring the change in

water level. An inflow water clock followed the same principle as

an outflow one, i.e. the steady dripping of water. Unlike the latter,

the formers measurements were in a second container instead. Based on the amount of water that

dripped from the first container, one was able to tell how much time had passed.

The water clock, however, contains some flaws. First of all, a constant pressure of water was

needed to keep the flow of water at a constant rate. Before, water clock did not have a constant

pressure of water to keep the flow constant, and thus give inaccurate time. To solve this problem, the

water clock was supplied with water from a large reservoir in which the water was kept at a constant

level. Although the fundamental principle of the water is a relatively simple one, there were some

challenges related to the physics of water pressure and the changing seasons that the ancients had to

deal with, resulting in the water clocks becoming more and more complex over time.

Sand clock
Another well known device that measures time is the sand clock in which uses sand to

measure time duration or intervals by having it to move from one bulb to another

by gravity. This type of tool was unknown until it first appeared with some

records in the early middle age. Then, it was developed and become famous in

maritime use. The sand clock is derived from the water clock which both of them

works on the same principle. The factors that affect the time interval are sand

quantity, sand coarseness, bulb size, and neck width. However, this tool cant

indicate the time of the day since it doesnt correspond with any celestial bodies.

It also doesnt depend on any weather conditions so it can be used at anytime.

Once the upper bulb is empty, inverting the bulbs to other side can be done to

reuse the sand clock indefinitely.

Comparison of sandclock, waterclock and sundial
Materials for making the sundials

1. 13.75 degree paper sundial (printed)

2. Scissor
3. Glue
4. Paper gnomon (printed)
5. paper box
6. colors and
Principles of Sundial
Advantages and disadvantages of Sundials

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Environmental friendly Doesnt work when sun is hidden

No battery runout Cant measure accurate time

Automatically adjusts to local Work only at the latitude it is

time while traveling designed for

Easy to build Can be damaged easily

Cost saving Not as portable as a watch

Dont need maintenance

Accuracy of Sundial

Up to second half of 19th century, sundial and local time were basically the same. But
these day, people create time zone system which separate by nation. Each country creates
a standard time for entire cities. Also, daylight saving time where lock reset one hour forward
in summer and back one hour in winter. While sundial times still the same which changes
according from the longitude of difference location.
https://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sundial.htm
Principle of The Sundial