A crystal’s resonant frequency is determined by its size and shape as well as it’s material. The quartz crystals used in watches and other precision crystal oscillators are machined very exactly. Even then it’s not that they can’t vibrate at other frequencies, they’re just not good at it.
Yes and no. The quartz in watches needs to be tuned to a specific frequency. They do this by either adding material or taking some away, just like a normal tuning fork. Here’s a video explaining it better than I possibly can, and it’s Steve Mould, so you know it’s worth the watch
I’m not a physicist, but I think crystals can vibrate at a fixed frequency? Isn’t that how quartz watches work?
A crystal’s resonant frequency is determined by its size and shape as well as it’s material. The quartz crystals used in watches and other precision crystal oscillators are machined very exactly. Even then it’s not that they can’t vibrate at other frequencies, they’re just not good at it.
Yes and no. The quartz in watches needs to be tuned to a specific frequency. They do this by either adding material or taking some away, just like a normal tuning fork. Here’s a video explaining it better than I possibly can, and it’s Steve Mould, so you know it’s worth the watch
ahh worth the watch