Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Pathitta Kittimongkolsuk (Earn)
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Pemika Phatthanakittichai (Pair)
Poondarik Tayawitit (Pangrum)
Nathawadee Nonthabanhan (Nonni)
Wenika Setho (Josey)
Objective
To demonstrate that the Earth is rotating in relation to the Sun, by
showing how a shadow moves throughout the day.
Background
- Sundial is the earliest timekeeping device
- The first group who used the sundial was the Egyptians and
babylonians
- The Greeks also used a sundial called the “pelekinon” where the
gnomon or vertical rod was placed on a horizontal or half spherical
face.
- First Sundial in Zhou Dynasty in Ancient China
- Sun’s ray will provide the shadow which will rotate and change the
position over time → depends on rotation and movement of the sun.
Background (cont.)
- The sundials tell time by casting shadows or light on the base plate
- 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.
- Time can be calculated most accurately at noon.
Background (cont.)
- The working of a sundial is not simple because the tilted axis of the earth. By
aligning the gnomon with the earth’s axis, the difference can be
compensated.
- Different sundials have different principles for calculating time.
- horizontal sundial : the gnomon or needle is tilted in line with the earth’s axis
while the base is kept horizontally.
- equatorial sundial, the base plate is kept at an angle that is parallel to the
equator while the gnomon is perpendicular to the plate.
- The most common type is the vertical sundial where the base plate is vertical
and the gnomon is aligned to the earth’s axis.
Background (cont.)
equatorial sundial vertical sundial
Materials
1. Cardboard 6. Tape
2. Pencil 7. Scissors
● Put the straw on the pencil mark with the straw slightly bent, and put clay
● Find the place where the sun shines all day and you can leave the sundial in
● Use a compass to find North. Position the cardboard so that the shadow of
● Set your alarm for the next top of the hour (noon, 1:00, 2:00, etc). When the
alarm rings, observe where the shadow of the straw is cast on and make a
● Write the hours next to, on top of, or underneath the mark.
● Repeat the observation and notes at each hour. If you started in the
afternoon, comeback to the sundial the next day in the morning hours to
throughout the hours and day. Shadow of the straw casts on the clock and
the earth really rotates relative to the sun. When the earth is rotating, the sun
appears to move across the sky which causes an object to cast its shadow. The
sundial is, therefore, built base on the same basis. The time is shown according to
straw as a clock hand. When we try using the clock under the sun, because of the
unexpected wind, the straw we use cannot resist the wind and make the result
not that accurate. Another reason is because of a human error during the process
of measurement. When we trace the line from the shadow to the numbers on the
clock , we might draw the line not precise and not proper.
Conclusion
The shadow of the straw points