Tattoo Page: Time

Time is an abstract concept - Lunchtime doubly so

All metric measurements are in some way linked into each other, more specifically, they are linked to water:

A box 10cm x 10cm x 10cm holds 1 litre of water; this litre weights 1Kg, and if suspended on a string 1 meter long and given a little push, will swing once per second. To raise the Kg by one meter will require 1 Joule of energy (and so it goes on).

Its very nice, and I find it loads easier to work with than Imperial, but it is still earth specific, Time is a function of Earth's rotation, Distance, Mass, Volume and enything else fall into place about this abstract duration.

The pendulum idea is a good way of defining a duration, but unfortunately is dependant on gravity. By changing the model to two masses on a spring, the same properties can be identified, but the model will now work in a zero-G vacuum, its time-base is dependant on the mass of each point, and the spring strength that holds them. As well as an oscillation model, this model - or something that looks and behaves very similarly, can be found in chemistry.

A single Hydrogen atom is not a happy fellow - on the whole, he likes company, and left to his own devices, will go and find another Hydrogen atom to bond with. The result is a Biatomic Hydrogen Molecule, and it can be visualised using this same model - two masses on a spring.

There's the time model - the mass of a Hydrogen atom is a universal, the atomic bond strength is universal, and the model will (or should) oscillate at the same frequency - universally. I'll save you the maths - the answer is 129 GHz. The design to the right of the Biatomic model on the tattoo is a scale - it identifies this hydrogen frequency as being 1 (red) unit. The key then identifies 1 (black) unit by equating it to a number of Red units, and identifies 1 Blue unit agains a number of black units.