SUNDIAL

Astronomy
Mr. Gopinath Subramanian

Group members:

Karis Katekovit 5861050

Varun Saketharam 5861174
Nitinan Yotsakulsate 5861311
Suchanuch Putaprapasri 5861150
Yonlada Nawilaijaroen 5861186
Table of Content

TIME 1

EARLY INSTRUMENTATION 3

SUNDIAL 4
5
WATER CLOCK
6
SAND CLOCK
COMPARISON OF SUNDIAL, WATER CLOCK, 7

AND SAND CLOCK

MATERIALS FOR MAKING SUNDIAL 8
PROCEDURES 9
PRINCIPLE OF SUNDIAL 10

ACCURACY OF SUNDIAL 11
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SUNDIAL 12
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Time

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

ancient Japan, England and Mesopotamia; the time stick, 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.
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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 sand clock.

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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.
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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.
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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.
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COMPARISON OF SUNDIAL, WATER CLOCK AND SAND CLOCK

Sand Clock Water Clock

Measure the time duration/intervals Also known as clepsydrae

Cant tell the exact time of the day Use flow of water to measure time
Rate of flow must
not be fluctuate
Contain two bulb that link by a Have to keep track with the length
narrow channel of days due to season change
Independent from
Make use of gravity to move sand celestial bodies Water needs to flow at constant
from one bulb to another bulb rate to keep it accurate

Invented in Timepiece Based on the principle

Medieval Europe Exist in of Torricellis law
Has to be one the ancient Egypt
flat surface to
Oldest time-measuring
function properly
instruments

Dependent on the sun Tell the time of the day

Dependent on the weather Use of movement of sun and

its cast shadow

Consist of a flat plate Only use during

and a gnomon daylight hours
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Materials for making sundial

13.75 degree of sundial paper (printed) Gnomon paper (printed)

Scissor Glue

Paper box Colors and decorations

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Procedure

1. Print a sundial and a gnomon with a latitude of 13.75 degrees (for a

sundial to give accurate time, the angles of the gnomon has to match the
latitudes at which the sundial is being measured)

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

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Principle of sundial

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.
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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 clock 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.
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Advantages and disadvantages of sundial

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Environmental friendly Doesnt work when sun is hidden

No battery runout Cant measure accurate time

Automatically adjusts to local time while Work only at the latitude it is

traveling designed for

Easy to build Can be damaged easily

Cost saving Not as portable as a watch

Doesnt need maintenance