ECN Forum Forums Technical Discussion Re: Computers and the Internet Where Does the Time Come From?

As I was sitting at my desk not writing the checks I should be, I was staring at my $2.00 battery powered LCD clock counting out the seconds and a thought crossed my mind.

How does this cheaply made device 'know' how long 1 second is?

Grandfather clocks have pendulums, some watches have quartz timing, the clock on the wall may be controlled by the AC cycles.

But what is it in a silicon chip that can tell time?

Bob