Cesium magnetometers are used in submarines and spacecraft to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field for navigation when GPS signals are unavailable. Lowest melting point of all metals at 28.
Cesium Atomic Clocks: The Backbone of Ultra-Precise Timekeeping
This atomic clock standard provides unprecedented accuracy, losing or gaining less than a second over millions of years, a testament to the predictable electronic structure of cesium. Furthermore, cesium is a critical component in photomultiplier tubes, highly sensitive light detectors used in medical imaging equipment like PET scanners and in fundamental physics experiments to detect rare particles.
Beyond defining the second, cesium-based devices are essential in aerospace and defense. The metal floats, melts into a shiny ball due to the heat released, and skids around the surface while bursting into flames, producing hydrogen gas and caesium hydroxide so vigorously that it can be mistaken for a small explosion.
How Cesium Powers Ultra-Precise Atomic Clocks for Timekeeping
This atomic property is the root of its dramatic behavior. Since 1967, the second—the fundamental unit of time—has been defined not by the rotation of the Earth or the swing of a pendulum, but by the vibrations of a cesium-133 atom.
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