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Where is the zero?

A project log for C10

Clock for the 'proper' decimal time system

knvdKn/vD 04/23/2016 at 07:454 Comments

In my initial concept I am basing the C10 moment 00:00:00 to match exactly the standard time 00:00:00, however I am also considering another variant.

What in particular defines the moment zero? In the standard time it is the unclear definition of 'midnight'. I have not been able to find any better explanation that this. But what defines when is midnight?

There is also another problem in this approach. The measures which small numbers, which are closer to the mind, remain largely unused because people are normally asleep during that time. So from the current clock's point of view we first rest, and then do something, instead of the opposite.

I am thinking about the option to base the C10 moment zero on some more specific term, which can define the actual start of the day and leave the finishing intervals for sleep. This translated into current time would mean that the moment 00:00:00 in a C10 clock would be somewhere around 03:00:00 in the standard time.

In my small conversion program this could be easily done by a very small modification (tested in CodeBlocks):

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>

// this little program calculates and prints the intersection points between standard and C10 times
void main(void) {
  unsigned long h,m,s;
  float t;
  for(h=0; h<24; h++)
    for(m=0; m<60; m++)
      for (s=0; s<60; s++) {
        // the day in C10 starts at 3AM standard time
        t=((float)(h*3600+m*60+s)/8.64)-1250;
        if(t<0) t=10000+t;
        if(t>=10000) t-=10000;
        if(t==ceil(t)) printf("%02lu:%02lu:%02lu.....%02.2f\r\n",h,m,s,(t/100));
      }
}

        

Discussions

danjovic wrote 04/24/2016 at 20:07 point

6:00 am would be a good candidate for zero as it coincides with beginning of daylight during equinoxes. Then after 50 intervals it would be 18:00 hs or the beginning of the night.

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Kn/vD wrote 04/24/2016 at 20:24 point

I actually considered 6am a few years ago with the initial idea, but then thought it is too late in the day for a zero point

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Kn/vD wrote 04/23/2016 at 09:30 point

Noon is on the same par with midnight. When exactly is 'noon'?

I have been thinking about something much more well defined. Such as the exact moment of sunrise at 0m altitude on the first day of the year at specified location (0,0). Or maybe something with the position of some particular star looking from a defined location...

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Yann Guidon / YGDES wrote 04/23/2016 at 08:46 point

Or noon ?...

Anyway the question of determining "midnight" is my concern as well, with #1ppd: Midnight Reset

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